KLM Apologizes After Paralympian Was Denied Aisle Chair on 11-Hour Flight
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 9
KLM Apologizes After Paralympian Was Denied Aisle Chair on 11-Hour Flight
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 9
Summary
KLM issued a "sincere" apology after Paralympian Hannah Babalola said crew refused her an onboard aisle chair on a nearly 11-hour Cape Town-Amsterdam flight, leaving her unable to access the toilet.
Babalola, 37, who is paraplegic, said crew told her using the chair in turbulence was too dangerous and gave her two options: reach the toilet without it or leave the plane.
A written "final warning" was handed to her, and crew called security and later Amsterdam police; both declined to act, and she completed her trip to Chicago on a different connecting flight.
Babalola said she avoided eating and drinking, cried during the journey and filed a formal complaint alleging discriminatory treatment; KLM said it would fully review crew reports and other information.
The case has renewed scrutiny of disabled passengers' access to transport, with British Paralympian Anne Wafula Strike saying the episode showed equal-treatment failures persist nearly a decade after her own widely publicized ordeal.