Must not mention it if elderly people slow others down

Another bit of reality that may not be mentioned

An elderly woman was reduced to tears when she was blamed for delaying a flight.

Alicia Staveley was travelling back from Wellington after treatment for ovarian cancer when she was blamed for delaying an Air New Zealand flight because a passenger lift she required, had not turned up as planned.

Ms Staveley waited 15 to 20 minutes while the lift was brought which inadvertently delayed the plane's departure.

Once she was boarded the already fragile Ms Staveley was shocked and hurt to hear the plane’s captain announcing: ‘Sorry for the delay folks. We were waiting for the forklift so the disabled person can get on the plane’.

Ms Staveley’s daughter Kylie Rush who was travelling with her was ‘angry’ that the captain had made her mother feel so ‘awful.’ Ms Rush told Stuff that Ms Staveley had cried and that it had been a ‘big thing for her because she wants to be independent.’

Airline Pilots' Association president Mark Rammell told Stuff: ‘I don't think it's a mistake – it's factual.’

Mr Rammel said ‘It was the first complaint of its type he knew of in his seven years as president, and he did not see a need for a change in how announcements were made.’

Air New Zealand had been apologetic to Ms Staveley and Ms Rush and told Stuff it had ‘let its customers down.’

SOURCE

The old lady was weeping over her own decline, nothing more.