WHEELY INCONVENIENT

On June 20 I travelled back to the US after a visit with my daughter and a family business meeting in Germany. As an almost 80-yearold senior citizen, I often require assistance navigating from one gate to the next, especially when the airport is new to me. My return flight was from Düsseldorf (DUS) to Cincinnati (CVG) via Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) on Air France and Delta. When my daughter realised that CDG airport would pose a problem for me, she contacted Delta to request wheelchair assistance at the gate in CDG. The Delta representative confirmed that a wheelchair would be waiting for me at the gate. This was two weeks before my scheduled departure. Upon arrival in DUS at the Air France counter (this leg of the flight was serviced by Air France), we double-checked that assistance would be there for me, as on this day I was in particular need of help. The counter agent confirmed that, indeed, a wheelchair would be there to take me to the next gate. As I exited the plane in CDG, there was no one waiting for me and I was unable to find anyone from Air France or Delta to help me. I was shocked and scared not knowing how I would manage my way to the next gate, alone. I'd never been in CDG before and it was quite intimidating. Thankfully, there were some English-speaking gals on the flight and they helped me get to my correct gate. Once onboard to CVG, I asked the flight attendants why no one was there to help me. Not one of them knew anything about a wheelchair that had been ordered or the assistance I needed.

I was quite shaken by the whole unpleasant experience. First, I don't understand why a service, such as wheelchair assistance, is offered if it is not properly followed through. Thousands of people are dependent on this service yearly, and I don't believe an airline has the right to forget its passengers. Not everyone is lucky enough to have kind strangers help them in a time of need. For older people, travelling can be an extremely daunting and unnerving experience when you are unable to move about like you could in the past. Secondly, where was the break in communication between these two airlines? Can it be that difficult to relay a simple message in this day of modern technology?

A day or two after arriving home, I received an email survey from Delta regarding my recent trip. I immediately filled it out and returned it via email. After several weeks of not hearing anything, I went to the website and filled out a customer service complaint. Since both of these complaints were submitted instantly online I have no paper trail to show my communication attempts.

As a long time SkyMiles member with Delta, I am truly disappointed with the lack of service I received and by the lack of respect to my two emails sent. To date, no one has contacted me, and I have the feeling that no one plans to any time soon. Clearly, it interests no one at Delta that needy passengers are not being properly taken care of while in transit. I travel several times a year with Delta not because I have to, but because the CVG hub is convenient for me. Numerous other airlines travel to all the places I need to visit and I might soon be using their services.