"Not that I am willingly defending anything 'france'. But, Air France or any establishment have the right to require the disabled to come with their own assistance."
Agreed, any business should be able to set any legal rules that it wishes and then allow the marketplace to work on it's own. But there's no need and no excuse for being so breathtakingly rude to someone.
Furthermore, I would suggest that if indeed Air France had in place a preexisting set of rules specifying that a disabled person will not be allowed to fly without an assistant, wouldn't it be more likely that they would have had something a bit more substantive in the way of a response to the press on this issue than "no comment?".
Also, does it seem likely that a person who is disabled in this way would go through everything required in order to plan a trip and buy a ticket and never mention, or never be asked, whether any special assistance was needed?
I haven't flown in a while, but in the past I remember always seeing a checkbox somewhere asking if I needed a special meal, special assistance, etc.
It seems strange to me that she got as far along as the airport checkin counter if there had been some sort of rule in place against her flying alone.
1. They should never have been so unbelievably rude
2. If they, as company policy, demand that disabled people be accomanied by an assistant then they should clearly state that prerequisite on the ticket or in accompanying documentation.
3. If Air France does indeed require disabled people to fly with an assistant and if this policy runs counter to FAA or DOT regulations, I would have no problem with Air France being barred from operating in the US, at least until the matter is rectified.
Good points. Agreed.
The French are rude to EVERYONE. It is part of their culture. An American would have been smiling and pleasant, but the answer would still have been the same: You can't fly without an assistant.