Airline regulations

[ksal]

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta. After I was seated in my seat, I was bumped off my AirTran flight, even though when I made my reservation, I spoke with a supervisor who told me that I could go right up to the doorway of the plane and would have no problem. The pilot was the problem-he wanted me to remove the batteries at first and when I told him I couldn't, he called some supervisor and was told not to let it on his plane because the batteries might leak and cause a biohazard! They put me up overnight and put me on a Delta flight the next day and gave me a voucher for a free flight and some vouchers for meals at the airport, but it ruined my Thanksgiving vacation. I had no problems whatsoever with Delta or with the airports (Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta). I returned on a Continental flight but they told me they were reviewing their regulations and that the next time I flew with them I should have a doctor's note stating that I was using the Segway for medical reasons.

Kathryn A Salmanson

[jrmiller]

Good AM Ksal, Sorry to hear about your T'giving being messed up. I hae flown several times with SWAir lines and they have been terrific. I was able to ride right to the planes door and the HT was waiting for me at the door when I de-planed. I was first on and I always am the last off, by choice so I do not get in the way of the abled bodied folks who are in a bigger hurry than I. I just call and tell them I am traveling with a SEgway and they are now framiliar with the battery situation and it has been smooth saling. If you travel in the future and can utilize SouthWEst Air call me or e-mail me and I can give you a number in Houston to call. The lady there is extremely nice and very accomidaating. If you wish to call me refeerence this please feel free to do so. Just email me and I will either call you if you give me you number or you can call me . What ever works best for you, :>) SEG-ON SEG-RIGHT JR

[jrmiller]

Ksal, One othere thing, do you have a copy of yor handdicapped permiton the front of your HT? If not you should place one on it . This will defuse many questions about its use before they get asked. I do not know if it would have helped in this situation. I think that the pilot was just ignorant of the situation, er... maybe just uninformed. I hav a few ideas about the permit if you wish, again let me know. JR :>)

[mister_bigtime]

I would recommend anyone flying with a Segway carry the specifications concerning the batteries. Having them helped me prevent an over zealous agent from having me disassemble them. It seems that the type of batteries is a concern of the airlines, wetcell vs dry. There is a set of battery specs on the Segway-FAQ found at http://www.segwaychat.com/segway-faq/segway-faq.html

Tom

[ksal]

Thanks, Tom. I have printed it out and am putting together a packet of stuff to put in my Segway pack.

Kathryn A Salmanson