Ryanair KICKS OUT disabled boy after pilot fears his wheelchair may 'ruin plane'
RYANAIR has humiliated yet another one of its passengers. This time it was an 18-year old boy with a disability that requires him to have his electric wheelchair with him. They kicked him out after he had boarded the flight, saying that the electric wheelchair could potentially 'ruin the plane'.
Noah Cunningham, from Southport, Lancashire, was ready to fly from the Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Rome on Thursday, April 7, with his brother and two care givers with the money he had saved up from his 18th birthday celebrations.
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Noah's mum, Vicki Cunningham, said that this was her son's "dream trip" and the way in which it was taken away was nothing short of a "humiliation". This happened when the staff on the flight clearly said no to loading Noah's electric wheelchair on the flight despite knowing that he had already boarded the plane.
His mum Vicki said that Noah has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is a progressive muscle-wasting condition. The Cunninghams had already provided the measurements of the wheelchair quite in advance from the day of the trip. It was found that there was nothing wrong with the dimensions of the wheelchair.
However, Ryanair claimed later that these measurements were incorrect and the maximum dimensions had been exceeded and that the wheelchair could not be safely loaded on the flight. Vicki further shared that her son had been planning for this trip since quite a few years after being "stuck in lockdown". She said, "He's always wanted to go to Rome - he loves history. It was his 18th birthday. He had all this money for his birthday, he was going on this little trip that he's been planning for years stuck in lockdown and he was finally going to go." She then added, "Lots of his friends are going on holidays now they're 18 and Noah can't do that. This was his little trip he was looking forward to and now it's been taken away in such a humiliating way."
Vicki also shared how Noah had obtained letters and approval from his general physician and hospital before he planned this trip. Additionally, he also ensured to carry medical equipment like two ventilators, a suction machine, and a feeding pump. When Ryanair sent him a waiver form that would waiver the cost of carrying all equipment, he filled it and sent it back.
The problem only began when the staff said they did not know about the waiver form and charged him $77 to load his medical equipment on board. Vicki said that Ryanair staff were most unhelpful when they found out about Noah's wheelchair with the pilot claiming it would “ruin” the aircraft. "They came up and said 'we can't get the wheelchair on you're going to have to come and help. The pilot said 'you're going to ruin my plane. You're not putting that on'."
Vicki said, "At that point they'd broken the wheelchair - the control - you have to push him in it now. All the passengers had been sitting on the plane for an hour, they were fed up as you can imagine. [Staff] came onboard and said [to Noah] you'll have to get off, we can't get your wheelchair on.' They had to lift him off and away in front of everyone.” Ryanair has refunded the ticket as a "gesture of goodwill".