This disabled Frontier Airlines passenger arrived early at Atlanta’s airport, only to be called a ‘burden’ and miss her flight

A video of a disabled woman who appears to be a poet has gone viral. According to Daily Dot, the woman claimed that Frontier Airlines staff refused to provide her with wheelchair assistance, and later she missed an airplane to the Raleigh Poetry Slam. The incident reportedly took place at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She posted the video on her Instagram account, explaining how the airline staff treated her, and also claimed she was called “too much of a burden.”

The woman with the Instagram handle @k.painterpoetry posted a reel explaining the whole story. She claimed that she arrived at the airport an hour before her flight, hoping to receive assistance boarding. She asked for assistance immediately, but the staff reportedly made her wait for half an hour before a woman holding a shoe in her hand came out and declared that the poet should have come 2 hours before boarding started.

She stated in the caption of the post, “I was unable to make my flight to the Raleigh poetry slam because an employee decided I didn’t deserve to be helped for whatever reason.  I was directly told that I was too much of a burden to help to my face and Frontier Airlines (@flyfrontier) did nothing for me.”She added, “After waiting for over an hour to speak to a manager, that never arrived, I could tell that an employee was told by management to warn me that they can’t do anything if they determine I was simply not there early enough.”

Her viewers seemed divided on the incident 

Among her viewers, some appear to have supported her, while others criticized the airline staff for their behavior towards the woman. One of the viewers wrote, “That is disgraceful, disgusting, and everything in between. I’m so sorry this happened to you.” Another one said, “Dear @flyfrontier, please don’t make me embarrassed to call you colleagues. – Paul in CRP” Apart from support, some suggested that she should have arrived 2 hours before the flight.

One of them wrote, “I understand you had a terrible experience, but knowing you have a disability, you should have arrived much earlier.” Another one added, “In Atlanta, everyone needs to arrive 2-3 hours before their flight, and people who need assistance need to be there even earlier.” Another one passed the comment saying, “Part of the problem (it appears to me) is that you only left an hour to get to the plane; I’ve always heard you need 2-hours to be safe.” 

Frontier Airlines, which also had an issue involving a deaf passenger, has not yet responded to the poet’s feedback. She reportedly demanded a full refund and an assurance that something like this won’t happen again. But, at the same time, she also seemingly acknowledged that she should have arrived earlier and declared that she would try to comply with the two-hour time limit for the future.