When Delta Airlines passenger Sean Chang showed up to the gate just 10 minutes before departure, he was faced with a question most would not be asked.
He could choose to crawl to his seat or wait for a later flight.
You see Chang is paraplegic and Delta says it did not receive his request for assistance in advance. Neither was it prepared to provide him with the help that he needed.
They presented him with two options, take a flight 90 minutes later or crawl.
“Am I really going to have to crawl to get to my seat?” Chang said to USA Today. “It’s extremely humiliating, especially being on the floor and everybody’s above you looking down.”
Nonetheless he chose to crawl.
The Daily Mail reports that security lines were extremely long that day last month and the extra time in line caused him to be late.
‘Although Delta employees offered to move the customer to a direct flight less than 1.5 hours later to allow for proper boarding assistance, the customer opted to board himself,’ Delta spokesperson Emily Pritchard told the Daily Mail.
The airline says no violation of Chang’s rights occurred because he chose to crawl.
Chang thinks more needs to be done to assist disabled passengers. Delta compensated him by refunding his fare and offering him extra miles and vouchers.
“I wanted to be compensated for something you can’t put a price on,” Chang told USA Today.
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