JetBlue får kjeft av rullestolbrukere

[CK]

JetBlue plan ires disabled
(Source : South Florida Sun Sentinal, January 27, 2005)

JetBlue Airways is set to become the world's first airline to fly the newest Embraer regional jetliners later this year, but already the carrier is in a dispute with advocates for the disabled who complain the aircraft does not meet federal rules that require space to store a wheelchair. JetBlue flew the E-190 in Brazil this past autumn, and the airplane checked out perfectly - except for one thing. JetBlue spokesman Todd Burke said yesterday they discovered it did not have space in its cabin to store a wheelchair. A decade-old federal regulation requires airplanes capable of carrying 100 passengers to provide space to stow one wheelchair in the cabin. Almost immediately, JetBlue asked the U.S. DoT for a waiver. But JetBlue has run afoul of at least one disabled-rights organization, the 21,000-member Washington, D.C.-based Paralyzed Veterans of America, which is opposing the carrier's request. Burke said JetBlue wants to accommodate people in wheelchairs, and has offered to stow the wheelchairs in the forward cargo section. But Maureen McCloskey, national advocacy director for the veterans group, said wheelchairs stowed in cargo areas are often damaged. 'Mishandling of wheelchairs is a very big issue for our members,' she said.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/ny-bzair274126607jan27,0,2345553.story

Det eneste JetBlue trenger å gjøre om de ikke får godkjenning er å ta ut ETT sete - så er de nede i 99 og så har ikke lenger krav på seg på å ta med rullestoler.... Men, det er liksom ikke helt JetBlue's stil (Ryanairs, men ikke JetBlues), så jeg regner med at de kommer til en løsning til slutt.