A prominent British journalist and seasoned BBC correspondent, Frank Gardner, had to crawl across the cabin floor because the Polish airline, LOT, could not provide a wheelchair.
In a post on X, Gardner described the experience as “shocking,” highlighting the lack of adequate facilities for passengers with mobility challenges.
Despite his frustration with the airline’s policies, he commended the cabin crew for their efforts to assist him during the ordeal.
As of now, LOT Polish Airlines has not issued an official response regarding the incident. Gardner’s experience raises important questions about accessibility and support for passengers with disabilities in the aviation industry.
“Wow. It’s 2024 and I’ve just had to crawl along the floor of this LOT Polish airline to get to the toilet during a flight back from Warsaw as ‘we don’t have onboard wheelchairs. It’s airline policy’. If you’re disabled and you can’t walk this is just discriminatory,” Gardner said.
Gardner was quick to clarify that the cabin crew did their best under the circumstances.
“In fairness to the cabin crew, they were as helpful and apologetic as they could be. Not their fault, it’s the airline. Won’t be flying LOT again until they join the 21st century,” he added.
Frank Gardner has built a career reporting from some of the most perilous areas around the globe. In 2004, while on assignment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he was attacked by Al-Qaeda gunmen, resulting in partial paralysis.
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