Special Feature
Airline Travel Can Be Serious Struggle for Senior Citizens and Youth
By Carol Forsloff
The storm season is here, and last week Texas was hit with serious rain and problems
resulting from it. The weather problems caused travel problems, made more difficult by
the lack of support from airlines for the young and senior citizens.
In Dallas the storms were so bad evacuations took place. These were extremely large
and frightening storms, accompanied by lightning and strong winds across the region
of North Texas which brought power outages, major flooding and significant damage
to the Dallas area Wednesday night and Thursday morning June 10 and 11. Voluntary
evacuations took place in parts of the city.
Although there have been no deaths or injuries reported, the storm that hit the Dallas-
Fort Worth area had winds up to 70 mph Wednesday night. These winds, along with
thunderstorms accompanying them, dumped more than eight inches of rain on parts of
Dallas.
During power outages, approximately 260,000 customers were without power, until
early the following morning when about 150,000 customers had power back on.
The storm created havoc on the roads leading in and out of the city area, especially in
West Dallas. Lightning strikes are thought to be responsible for a fire that destroyed a
large, two story house in a town near the Dallas area.
Airline flights were cancelled out of Dallas Love Field where Southwest Airlines alone
canceled 21 flights. 13 other planes had to be diverted from the area because of the
storms, according to Brad Hawkins, a spokesman for the airlines.
I interviewed Randy Stelly who flew into Dallas on Wednesday from a conference in
Chicago, Illinois and was unable to get out of the city until Friday morning, waiting a
total of 30 hours at the airport. He said, "It was horrible---horrible. Inside the airport
we could see the lightning flashing, and it was the worst I have ever seen in my life."
He went on to say American Airlines was rude to its customers and unhelpful, in spite of
the confusion at the airport, but a Kenyan shift supervisor helped him by giving him a
cot to rest on. He got a total of 9 boarding passes for 9 different flights that were
canceled before he got one to get out of Dallas back to Louisiana.
I asked, “were you given meal passes?” He said no and neither was anyone else,
unless someone specifically asked, as one teenager did. I asked if there was offer of
lodging or financial help to pay for it. “No,” he said. “Some of us got cots from the
airport, but the airlines didn’t do anything.” He continued, “It was very cold that night
since the temperature had dropped precipitously during the storm. People were
shivering. Besides that the noise from the storms was frightening, and there was no
security in the area where we were.” Stelly and five other passengers, several senior
citizens and two teenagers, were left stranded as terminal areas were closed, where
there was no security, food or comfort places. They were left on their own, and as
they walked from gate to gate trying to get a flight out of Dallas, and then trying to find
places to get information and rest, the walk was more than five miles, with some of the
people carrying heavy carry-on luggage.
Stelly said the older people were so tired and obviously distressed from the experience
that several of them had friends or relatives drive into Dallas from as far away as
Louisiana border areas to bring them home. The total wait at the terminal for the
eventual flight out of Dallas was 26 hours with very little food or rest for stranded
passengers. Besides that, carts that were to be used for the elderly and disabled
stopped for ordinary folk who flashed money for tips.
Travel has become tiresome and sometimes treacherous for ordinary passengers, but
for seniors it has become especially difficult, as Stelly’s experience reveals. Often plane
trips are planned by agencies who don’t consider the distance between gates that
people have to travel on foot, some with heavy hand luggage. For seniors this can be a
serious problem. Weather conditions may be accidental, but airlines know there can be
mishaps, but don’t plan for support for young people or elderly, as Stelly experienced.
This author has found similar circumstances on trips between Hawaii and Louisiana.
This rain storm brought confusion and was frightening, according to Stelly. June also
begins the hurricane season, predicted to bring anywhere between nine and fourteen
major storms according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(parent organization of the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center)
which recently released their official Hurricane Season 2009 Forecast. People will be
traveling and will have to take special safeguards. No more will that be more true than
for seniors who travel at any time.
Given the Dallas experience, at this early date in June, it is likely critical to get a plan in
place, as recommended by medical, security and weather officials. A list of precautions
can be found at the American Red Cross site. Those who travel by car should know
those precautions, but since the airlines don’t provide for simple conveniences for
seniors, it’s important for older folk who take trips to also have a plan since clearly the
airlines don’t have one.
By Carol Forsloff
The storm season is here, and last week Texas was hit with serious rain and problems
resulting from it. The weather problems caused travel problems, made more difficult by
the lack of support from airlines for the young and senior citizens.
In Dallas the storms were so bad evacuations took place. These were extremely large
and frightening storms, accompanied by lightning and strong winds across the region
of North Texas which brought power outages, major flooding and significant damage
to the Dallas area Wednesday night and Thursday morning June 10 and 11. Voluntary
evacuations took place in parts of the city.
Although there have been no deaths or injuries reported, the storm that hit the Dallas-
Fort Worth area had winds up to 70 mph Wednesday night. These winds, along with
thunderstorms accompanying them, dumped more than eight inches of rain on parts of
Dallas.
During power outages, approximately 260,000 customers were without power, until
early the following morning when about 150,000 customers had power back on.
The storm created havoc on the roads leading in and out of the city area, especially in
West Dallas. Lightning strikes are thought to be responsible for a fire that destroyed a
large, two story house in a town near the Dallas area.
Airline flights were cancelled out of Dallas Love Field where Southwest Airlines alone
canceled 21 flights. 13 other planes had to be diverted from the area because of the
storms, according to Brad Hawkins, a spokesman for the airlines.
I interviewed Randy Stelly who flew into Dallas on Wednesday from a conference in
Chicago, Illinois and was unable to get out of the city until Friday morning, waiting a
total of 30 hours at the airport. He said, "It was horrible---horrible. Inside the airport
we could see the lightning flashing, and it was the worst I have ever seen in my life."
He went on to say American Airlines was rude to its customers and unhelpful, in spite of
the confusion at the airport, but a Kenyan shift supervisor helped him by giving him a
cot to rest on. He got a total of 9 boarding passes for 9 different flights that were
canceled before he got one to get out of Dallas back to Louisiana.
I asked, “were you given meal passes?” He said no and neither was anyone else,
unless someone specifically asked, as one teenager did. I asked if there was offer of
lodging or financial help to pay for it. “No,” he said. “Some of us got cots from the
airport, but the airlines didn’t do anything.” He continued, “It was very cold that night
since the temperature had dropped precipitously during the storm. People were
shivering. Besides that the noise from the storms was frightening, and there was no
security in the area where we were.” Stelly and five other passengers, several senior
citizens and two teenagers, were left stranded as terminal areas were closed, where
there was no security, food or comfort places. They were left on their own, and as
they walked from gate to gate trying to get a flight out of Dallas, and then trying to find
places to get information and rest, the walk was more than five miles, with some of the
people carrying heavy carry-on luggage.
Stelly said the older people were so tired and obviously distressed from the experience
that several of them had friends or relatives drive into Dallas from as far away as
Louisiana border areas to bring them home. The total wait at the terminal for the
eventual flight out of Dallas was 26 hours with very little food or rest for stranded
passengers. Besides that, carts that were to be used for the elderly and disabled
stopped for ordinary folk who flashed money for tips.
Travel has become tiresome and sometimes treacherous for ordinary passengers, but
for seniors it has become especially difficult, as Stelly’s experience reveals. Often plane
trips are planned by agencies who don’t consider the distance between gates that
people have to travel on foot, some with heavy hand luggage. For seniors this can be a
serious problem. Weather conditions may be accidental, but airlines know there can be
mishaps, but don’t plan for support for young people or elderly, as Stelly experienced.
This author has found similar circumstances on trips between Hawaii and Louisiana.
This rain storm brought confusion and was frightening, according to Stelly. June also
begins the hurricane season, predicted to bring anywhere between nine and fourteen
major storms according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(parent organization of the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center)
which recently released their official Hurricane Season 2009 Forecast. People will be
traveling and will have to take special safeguards. No more will that be more true than
for seniors who travel at any time.
Given the Dallas experience, at this early date in June, it is likely critical to get a plan in
place, as recommended by medical, security and weather officials. A list of precautions
can be found at the American Red Cross site. Those who travel by car should know
those precautions, but since the airlines don’t provide for simple conveniences for
seniors, it’s important for older folk who take trips to also have a plan since clearly the
airlines don’t have one.