(2014) Able, But Not Willing

8/17/2019 (2014) Able, But Not Willing

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Able, But Not Willing

ABLE, BUT NOT WILLINGDelta’s continued failure to provide adequate

service to travelers with disabilities

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26

June 2014

LOCAL 26


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Table of ContentsSummary and Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 3

Delta’s Ongoing Troubles with the D.O.T. ........................................................................................ 5

The Impact of Poverty Wages and No Benefits ............................................................................ 7

Adding Insult to Injury ................................................................................................................................. 9

Delta’s Problems at MSP ........................................................................................................................... 11

Training ...............................................................................................................................................................12

About the Air Carrier Access Act .........................................................................................................14

Recommendations ......................................................................................................................................15

Airline Contacts for Consumer Complaints ................................................................................. 16

Notes ....................................................................................................................................................................17

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Workers report continuing problems of understaffing and a lack of adequate training, which

prevent them from providing passengers with disabilities the service to which they are legally

entitled. Delta clearly has the financial resources to address the problem. Delta was the most

profitable airline in the world last year, with almost $3 billion in profits.8

Executive compensation is one of the areas where Delta has chosen to direct resources, insteadof to improving service for passengers with disabilities. Delta CEO Richard Anderson made $14

million last year, while Delta President Ed Bastian got $9 million.9

Until recently, in Delta’s own internal audits of the 10 largest Delta airports around the

country, Minneapolis-St. Paul was consistently number nine or 10 in the quality of its service to

passengers with disabilities, based on the level of disability-related complaints.10 One of the main

problems according to Delta was the company Delta contracted would “send one wheelchair

pusher for three or four people that might need service off the airplane.”11

Last fall, Delta hired a new contractor to improve services and announced the contractorwould provide a “one-for-one push,” meaning one attendant for each passenger who requires

assistance. However, workers report this is not the case and when there is a shortage of staff,

electric cart drivers are being told to perform wheelchair service, which results in a shortage of

available carts, affecting other passengers with disabilities.

Additionally, it is clear from both workers and passengers that Delta needs to improve the

training it provides workers, both about the specifics of using the equipment and physically

assisting passengers, as well as greater awareness of working with passengers with disabilities.

“I’ve seen that because of understaffing, we often have to

prioritize passengers with connecting flights over those

who MSP is their final destination. This means that some

passengers are getting left for long periods, or waiting in

the chairs because they are being transferred. I’ve seen

passengers who waited for 30 minutes or more to get takento baggage claim. I think it’s unfair to disabled passengers.”

—Wheelchair agent at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport

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Other complaints against Delta reportedly included:

• Leaving a blind woman alone in a wheelchair on a moving walkway.

• Failing to bring an 81-year-old man to a hotel after cancelling his flight, forcing him to sleep in

a wheelchair.

• Causing an elderly couple in wheelchairs to miss an international flight because Delta failed to

board them.14

In addition, the Transportation Department found Delta failed to provide written responses—

as required by the ACAA—to many of the complaints it had received regarding service to

passengers with disabilities. Delta also failed to provide the Transportation Department with

detailed reports regarding the complaints the airline received, which is also required by the

ACAA.

In a separate action in 2011, the Transportation Department issued an enforcement order for

similar violations against Mesaba Airlines, a wholly owned Delta subsidiary.15 Mesaba stated

that more than half of the complaints involved wheelchair services provided at Delta hubs by

contractors hired and supervised by Delta.17

2011 was not the first time Delta was fined by the Transportation Department for failing to

adequately serve passengers with disabilities. Delta paid a $1.25 million fine in 2003. As part

of that consent order, Delta was supposed to “improve its quality of service (to travelers with

disabilities) and reduce complaints.”

The 2011 consent order noted the number of disability-related complaints had actually

increased after the 2003 consent order. In 2004, there were less than 3,000 disability-

related complaints filed against Delta, Northwest and their subsidiaries. The number

of complaints filed in 2012 increased 50 percent to about 4,400. More than half of the

complaints involved Delta’s failure to provide wheelchair assistance.

As discussed in greater detail below, staffing is one of the clearest ways in which Deltademonstrates the low priority it places on serving passengers with disabilities. At the

Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, workers who assist customers with disabilities are paid minimum

wage, $7.25/hour, with no benefits by the company with which Delta contracts. These workers

report high turnover and chronic understaffing—problems which prevent them from providing

passengers with disabilities the service to which they are legally entitled.

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The Impact of Poverty Wagesand No BenefitsAt the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where 75 percent of arriving or departing

flights are operated by Delta, the airline contracts with a company called Air Serv to provide the

wheelchair and electric cart service to passengers. The workers are paid minimum wage—$7.25

an hour.

This contradicts the pledge Delta made as part of its 2011 consent order to “commit substantial

sums of money and other resources to the advancement and protection of its customers with

disabilities.”17

The low wages and minimal benefits Air Serv pays to wheelchair attendants and cart drivers

is particularly disconcerting considering Air Serv’s parent company, American BuildingMaintenance (ABM) provides janitorial services at MSP Airport and pays those workers almost

double ($14.27) what its subsidiary Air Serv pays wheelchair attendants.

Even working full time at minimum wage, passenger service workers earn just $15,080 a year—

well below the federal poverty line.18

This impacts passenger service in a number of ways:

7

Delta CEO RichardAnderson (if he worked

every waking hour - 16 hoursa day, seven days a week)

Janitor at MSP Wheelchair attendant

at MSP

$0

$500

$1000

$1500

$2000

$2500

$14.27 $7.25

$2,232

Hourly Wage


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• Workforce Instability. Low pay results in high turnover, which—combined with already poor

training standards—means passengers are often assisted by an inadequately trained and

inexperienced workforce.

• Inadequate staffing levels. With low wages, it can be difficult for an employer to attract and

retain enough reliable workers to do the job right. This means passengers with disabilities haveto wait to receive the assistance they are entitled to by law.

New Mobility, a national magazine for wheelchair users published by United Spinal Association,

surveyed more than 1,000 of its readers about their air travel experiences. One out of every five

respondents reported having had to wait on a plane more than 30 minutes after landing until

they were helped off the plane.19 The Transportation Department considers it an “egregious

violation” of the ACAA to leave a passenger on a plane for just half as long—15 minutes after the

other passengers have deplaned.

Workers’ HealthPoverty wages also result in stressed and tired employees. More than a third of surveyed workers at

MSP report having to work two jobs, due to the low pay.20 This takes a severe toll on their bodies

through sleep deprivation, stress and more. Workers often have to make the difficult and costly

decision of having to provide for their children rather than spending time bonding with them,

which can result in more stress.

Air Serv does not provide any paid time off, such as sick days or vacation, to its employees at MSP.

Two-thirds of surveyed wheelchair agents and cart drivers at MSP reported having come to work sick

because they don’t have paid sick days21

. Not only do workers not have paid sick days, they also riskgetting negative marks against them if they stay home sick, even for just one day.

When wheelchair attendants and cart drivers go to work sick, it poses serious health risks to

passengers:

• Some passengers may be immunocompromised, meaning their bodies have reduced ability to

fight infections, making them more susceptible to catching viruses.22

• Seniors are also more susceptible to infectious diseases because immune function declines

with age, and they are at higher risk of developing complications from common infections

such as influenza.23

Similar to the wage difference, Air Serv provides no paid time off to wheelchair attendants and

cart drivers, while its parent company ABM has paid sick days, vacation and holidays for janitors

who clean the airport.

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Adding Insult to InjuryIn April 2014, Delta Air Lines reached a settlement with one of its

passengers regarding an incident from 2012, just a year after Delta

entered into its second consent order with the TransportationDepartment for violating the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA).

According to the lawsuit, Baraka Kanaan, who is unable to walk

due to severe spinal injuries suffered in a car accident in 2000, was

forced to crawl across the tarmac, up and down the stairs of an

airplane, down the plane’s aisle, and out of and into his seat on the

plane on two separate trips.24

The lawsuit stated that although he was not required to do so,

Kanaan called Delta several weeks before his flight to inform

them that he is disabled and would require certain services and

equipment because he cannot walk. The lawsuit alleged that when

the plane arrived in Nantucket, Mass., where Kanaan was going to

a conference, a Delta employee told him they didn’t have an “aisle

chair” to bring him from his seat to the airplane door, nor did they

have the lift that was needed to take him down the stairs from the

plane to the tarmac where he could get his wheelchair.

According to the suit, the only option available to Kanaan was to crawl through the main cabin

of the plane, down a narrow flight of stairs, and across the tarmac to his wheelchair, which he

did and which caused him physical and emotional suffering. After he was in his own wheelchair

and had made it to the airport terminal, Kanaan called Delta to file a complaint and to let Delta

know he would be flying out of Nantucket in two days and would need the proper equipment.

The Delta representative initially offered Kanaan a $100 voucher and assured him the equipment

would be available for his return trip.

However, as the suit alleged, when it came time to board the plane, he was again told that

neither an aisle chair or lift were available, but they “could provide a piece of cardboard to put

down so that his clothes wouldn’t get dirty” from crawling, which he again had to do—across the

tarmac, up the stairs of the plane, down the aisle, and then had hoist himself into his seat.

Just a few months after the incident with Kanaan, Delta Airlines was in the news again for its

treatment of another passenger with a disability. Marine Cpl. Christian Brown had lost both

legs from an explosive device in Afghanistan. According to article story in The Washington Post,

Brown was squeezed into a narrow wheelchair and then clumsily wheeled to the very last row

of the plane, bumping into seated passengers along the way. Fellow passengers report that he

“I have giveneverything that I

can give and this

is the way I am

being treated?

This is how I will be

treated for the rest

of my life?”—Marine Cpl. Christian

Brown, who lost both hislegs when he stepped on

an explosive device in Afghanistan, after the way he

was treated on a Delta flight.

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Delta’s Problems at MSPOne of the primary goals of the Metropolitan Airports

Commission (MAC),which is the governing body of the

Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, is to give travelers the best airportexperience in North America.26 There is a lot of work to do for

this to be true for travelers with disabilities.

More than half of the wheelchair agents surveyed at MSP say

they have had passengers miss flights due to delays in

wheelchair service. 27

A Delta representative made a shocking admission at a May

19, 2014, MAC meeting, that until recently, in Delta’s own

internal audits of the 10 largest Delta airports around thecountry, Minneapolis-St. Paul was consistently number nine

or 10 in quality of service. Delta measured this by the number

of complaints per SSR (Special Service Request).28 An SSR is a

passenger’s request for assistance with a wheelchair either when

transferring, terminating or starting their trip at the airport.

The Delta representative acknowledged the company Delta

contracted would “send one wheelchair pusher for three or four

people that might need service off the airplane. Well, when you

do that, you force yourself into grabbing one person off theairplane, taking them to a blue chair, having them wait for a cart,

go get the next one, go get the next one.”29

Delta said that as part of its effort to improve its service at MSP

it now provides a “one-for-one push,” meaning there is one

attendant for each passenger requiring wheelchair assistance.

However, workers report this is not the case.

“The worst is whenyou go to a gate and

there are several

passengers who

need wheelchair

service, but I’m the

only one there.

Passengers get upsetat me if I just take

one person—the

others feel like they

are getting short-

changed. I’ve heard

the gate agents

complaining becausethey can see that

we have stopped

providing one-on-

one service.”

—Wheelchair attendantat MSP

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Training The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) requires airlines and their contractors provide training, within

60 days of hiring, to the workers who will assist the airline’s disabled passengers. The training

must include:

• the requirements of federal laws regarding air travel by persons with a disability;

• proper and safe operation of equipment used with passengers with a disability; and

• “awareness of and appropriate responses to persons with a disability, including persons with

physical, sensory, mental, and emotional disabilities, including how to distinguish among the

differing abilities of individuals with a disability”

Given the number of complaints from senior and disabled passengers, it appears training

programs being used by airlines are in need of improvement and could especially benefit in both

planning and conducting of trainings from greater involvement of people with a disability.

Some disabled passengers are lifted by airport workers directly into and out of their seat on the

plane. According to the New Mobility survey, of those passengers who are carried by workers:

• 47 percent said workers are “eager but uninformed”;

• 21 percent said workers are “poorly trained and

clueless.”31

Passenger service workers at MSP have seen many of

these problems firsthand. Workers who drive the electric

carts for Air Serv have addressed the Metropolitan

Airports Commission (MAC) about having to provide aisle

chair service without having received the proper training.

One wheelchair attendant said, “Many of the new workers

are getting their training from other workers on the job

and it takes them a lot longer when doing aisle chair

service.” Improper training can lead to injuries for boththe passenger and worker.”

There are several new developments that Delta and MAC

can draw from in improving training for workers at MSP.

“In the past, airlines

sought out training

from disability groups,but now they do

everything in-house.

But are they really

doing the training,

and are they following

up when incidents

occur?”32

– Kleo King, senior vice presidentof Accessibility Services and

Able to Travel for United Spinal Association

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• The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently decided it wanted to better train all

its employees about how to interact with people with disabilities going through security. The

TSA consulted several nonprofit organizations around the country, and now contracts with

United Spinal Association which trains TSA agents. 32

• Last year, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) announced the launch of a disabilityawareness training program for airport, airline and security employees. The training program

was developed in partnership with two San Francisco organizations that represent people with

disabilities.33 The program was designed with a focus on sensitivity and respect for disabled

travelers

• Although there were already several different disability trainings at SFO, the airport decided

to take a comprehensive approach by looking at the passenger’s entire airport experience

from curbside, to security checkpoints, to gate. The airport modified existing policies to

make disability awareness training mandatory for employees of all airlines and airline service

providers.

One area where workers should be better trained is in the transportation of passengers’ electric-

powered wheelchairs which are stored under the plane with luggage and cargo. It is common for

passengers with disabilities to arrive at their destination and

find their wheelchair has been damaged.

Nationally, of passengers who travel with their own

wheelchair, less than 40 percent report that when they arrive

at their final destination, their chair is waiting for them and

in operable condition.34 Workers need to be aware that notonly are many of these wheelchairs custom-made and very

expensive, but also any damage to the chair can severely

limit the passenger’s mobility.

“Delivering great

customer service

requires teamwork.

By involving allcustomer-facing

employees at SFO, we

are demonstrating our

commitment to provide

the airport experience

our disability

community expects anddeserves.”36

—John Martin, San FranciscoInternational Airport Director

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About the Air CarrierAccess ActIn 1986, Congress passed the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) to prohibit discrimination by airlines

against people with disabilities and to require airlines to accommodate the needs of passengers

with disabilities.35 However, it was not implemented until 1990 when the Department of

Transportation issued regulations clearly defining the rights of passengers with disabilities and

obligations of airlines.36

Under ACAA, airlines may not:• Refuse transportation to passengers on the basis of disability.

• Require advance notice that a passenger who will be traveling has a disability.

• Limit the number of disabled passengers on a flight.

• Require a person with a disability to travel with an attendant, except in limited specific

circumstances.

• Count assistive devices against any limit on the number of carry-on baggage.

• Charge for providing accommodations required by the law.

Under ACAA, airlines must:• Provide assistance with boarding, deplaning and making connections.

• Have movable aisle armrests on at least half the aisle seats on airplanes with 30 or more seats.

• Have accessible bathrooms on wide-body planes.

• Give priority for storage in the baggage compartment to wheelchairs and other assistive

devices.

The ACAA also requires airlines provide training on the ACAA and disability awareness to allemployees who interact with passengers and airlines must designate a complaints resolution

official to respond to complaints from passengers.

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Recommendations For the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC)

The MAC should make Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport (MSP) the best

airport experience in North America for passengers with disabilities. One of the

MAC’s primary goals is to give travelers the “best airport experience in North

America.”This has not been reflected in the treatment of passengers with disabilities. In

Delta’s own internal audits of the 10 largest Delta airports around the country,

Minneapolis-St. Paul was consistently number nine or 10 in terms of complaints.

The MAC should work with airlines, contractors, and local disability groups to

develop a better disability-awareness training program. The MAC could make this

training mandatory for employees of all airlines and airline service providers, as the San

Francisco International Airport has done. This will help toward making MSP the best

airport experience in North America for passengers with disabilities.

The MAC should enact policies to ensure workers at the airport are paid a living

wage, with affordable health insurance and other benefits. It is unrealistic for the MAC

to think it can

provide customers with the “best airport experience in North America” when

the workers who are crucial to shaping that experience are paid poverty wages and treated

without respect or dignity.

For Delta Delta should require adequate staffing levels. When passengers miss flights due to a

shortage of wheelchair attendants or cart drivers, those passengers are beingdiscriminated against on the basis of their disability and are not receiving the equal

access to which they are legally entitled.

Delta should ensure the contractors it hires pay their employees a living wage.

Low pay results in high turnover, which means a less experienced workforce.

Delta should mandate contractors that provide passenger services provide sick

days to their employees. Wheelchair attendants and cart drivers work in close

proximity to passengers. When they come to work sick, it poses a serious health risk

to seniors and passengers with disabilities.

Delta should take the necessary steps to ensure electric powered wheelchairs that

are stored with luggage arrive in an operable condition. It is common for

passengers with disabilities to arrive at their destination and find their wheelchair has

been damaged. This is a problem not only because many wheelchairs are custom-made

and very expensive, but also because the damage to the chair can severely limit the

traveler’s mobility.

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Airline Contacts for ConsumerComplaintsAIRTRAN and SOUTHWEST Jim Ruppel

Vice President, Customer RelationsP.O. Box 36647

Dallas, TX 75235-1647(214) 932-0333

[email protected]

www.southwest.com

ALASKA AIRLINES

Raymond PrenticeDirector, Customer Advocacy

P.O. Box 68900Seattle, WA 98168

(800) 654-5669www.alaskaair.com

AMERICAN, AMERICAN EAGLE,

and US AIR

Sean Bentel

Director, Customer RelationsP.O. Box 619612 M/D 2400

DFW Airport, TX 75261-9612(817) 786-3778

[email protected]

www.aa.com/customerrelations

DELTA AIR LINES

Jason HausnerDirector, Customer Care

P.O. Box 20980Atlanta, GA 30320-2980

(404) 715-9985 [email protected]

FRONTIER AIRLINES Lori Junker

Senior Manager, Customer Relations7001 Tower Road

Denver, CO 80249-7312(720) 374-4638

www.flyfrontier.com

JETBLUE AIRWAYS Justin Thompson

Director, Customer SupportP.O. Box 17435

Salt Lake City, UT 84117(801) 449-2401www.jetblue.com

SPIRIT AIRLINES Heather Harvey

Manager, Customer Relations2800 Executive Way

Miramar, FL 33025(954) 628-4957

[email protected]://www.spiritair.com

SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES

Kim ReaganManager, Customer Services

1300 Mendota Heights RdMendota Heights, MN 55120

(651) [email protected]

UNITED AIRLINES Anne SeeleyManaging Director Customer Care

PO Box 4607 NHCCRHouston, TX 77210-4607

(877) [email protected]

www.united.com/feedback

US AIRWAYS

Ken FischerDirector, Customer Relations4000 E. Sky Harbor Boulevard

Phoenix, AZ 85034(800) 428-4322

[email protected]

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Notes (Endnotes)1 “Reneging on History? Playing the Court/Congress/President Civil Rights Game,” William N. Eskridge Jr., in The Least

Dangerous Branch: Separation of Powers and Court-packing,” ed. Kermit Hall, Taylor and Francis, 2000

2 “Taming Our Fear of Flying,” Josie Byzek, New Mobility, April 1, 2014

3 “Disabled Man Settles Lawsuit With Delta After Complaint That He Was Forced To Crawl On & Off Flights,”

Associated Press, Sam Eifling, April 22, 2014

4 “Delta Fined for Violating Rules Protecting Air Travelers with Disabilities,” US Department of Transportation press release, February 17, 2011

5 United State of America, Department of Transportation, February 17, 2011, Order 2011-2-10

6 Annual Reports on Disability-Related Air Travel Complaints by the U.S. Department of Transportation. includes

Delta and Northwest subsidiaries covering 2004 and 2012

7 Delta Air Lines, Inc. Consent Order, Transportation Department OST-2011-0003, February 17, 2011, Order 2011-2-10

8 “Small airlines fly high in profits; Spirit, Allegiant pace U.S. carriers,” Airline Weekly, Steve Tarter, April 14, 2014

9 “Delta Air Lines boosts CEO’s pay package by 42%,” USA Today, Associated Press, May 1, 2013

10 Ben Humphrey, Delta General Manager, addressing the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), May 19, 2014

11 May 19 Humphrey address to MAC

12 “US Transportation Department February 17, 2011 press release

13 United State of America, Department of Transportation, February 17, 2011, Order 2011-2-10

14 “Delta fined a record $2M,” Star Tribune, February 17, 2011, Lora Pabst and Paul Walsh

15 United State of America, Department of Transportation,, January 7, 2011, Order 2011-1-4

16 Ibid

17 US Transportation Department Delta Consent Order, February 17, 2011

18 “2012 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia”

19 Byzek, “Taming Our Fear of Flying,”

20 “2013 Survey of Passenger Service Workers at MSP,” a survey of over 100 wheelchair attendants and cart drivers

at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, conducted by SEIU Local 26

21 “2013 Survey of Passenger Service Workers at MSP”

22 Infectious Diseases: Infections in Immunocompromised Patients. St Jude Children’s Hospital.

http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=588d061585f70110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD

23 Mayo Clinic, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases- conditions/flu/basics/definition/con-20035101 and

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/flu/basics/complications/con-20035101

24 D. Baraka Kanaan v. Delta Air Lines, Case 1:13-cv-00365-SOM-KSC, filed July 23, 201325 Marine double-amputee’s treatment on Delta flight angers other vets,” Washington Post, Annie Groer, December 13, 2012

26 The Metropolitan Airports Commission 2014-2017 Strategic Plan

27 “2013 Survey of Passenger Services Worker at MSP”

28 May 19 Humphrey address to MAC

29 Ibid


32 Ibid

33 “SFO Launches Disability Awareness Training,”

30 Ibid


35 49 U.S.C. 41705

36 Title 14 CFR, Part 382

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26706 North 1st Street, Suite 110, Minneapolis, MN 55401(855) 265-6225 [email protected]

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LOCAL 26

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26

706 North 1st Street, Suite 110, Minneapolis, MN 55401

(2014) Able, But Not Willing

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