A legally blind man from Florida is lashing out at an airline after employees refused to let him board the plane with his young granddaughter.
Kliphton Miller told the Tampa Bay Times he regularly takes flights alone and also with his 18-month-old granddaughter but last month he was stopped by Frontier Airlines employees when he asked for assistance getting onto the aircraft.
The 44-year-old grandfather told the outlet he was traveling from Tampa to Las Vegas, where his granddaughter’s parents live.
“I was denied because I am blind,” he said. “They told me I was a liability.”
Miller said he made his way through the airport, without any assistance, just fine but once he asked for help getting onto the plane flight attendants started to question whether he would be able to take care of the child once in the air.
According to Miller, the employees were concerned that in the event of an emergency he would be a liability and told him it was against corporate policy to let him board.
Miller, however, said he would have been fine looking after his granddaughter during the flight.
“Usually flight attendants will help me to the bathroom if I need to change her, but I can do it myself,” he said. “I was a single dad for 10 years before I got married, and then I was a stay-at-home dad. I am completely capable.”
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After filing a complaint against the company with the U.S. Department of Transportation, he was allowed to travel to Vegas free of charge.
A spokesman for Frontier apologized to Miller calling the incident a “customer service failure.”
A number of airlines have been coming under fire lately.
In April, a Milwaukee man was kicked off a Delta plane before takeoff for using the bathroom. A Missouri woman also accused United Airlines of forcing her to pee in a cup after she told a flight attendant she had an overactive bladder and needed to use the bathroom.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/blind-man-frontier-airlines-refused-board-article-1.3216390