After her wheelchair equipment was broken on a trip for the second time this year, Loose Women panellist Sophie Morgan said British Airways is not making ‘concrete change quickly enough’ in its handling of handicapped customers.
The 38-year-old anchor revealed that she was ‘absolutely f***ing raging’ after discovering that her wheelchair wasn’t working ‘again’ during a flight with the national airline.
‘British Airways have broken my batec (battery-powered attachment),’ she said in an Instagram video posted over the weekend.
‘I arrived at the airport, and it was working and now I am reunited with it off the back of the plane and it is not working… again.
‘There is some sort of electrical fault and it’s not connecting when I turn the key in and so what does that tell you? It’s been manhandled.’
She added: ‘I honestly don’t think I can handle much more of this.’
She has now informed the PA news agency that there have been “no advances” since she began a campaign seeking for stronger standards for carriers in respect to mobility devices.
Morgan launched the Rights On Flights campaign in February when her wheelchair was broken beyond repair during a British Airways journey from Los Angeles to London’s Heathrow Airport.
Last week, she experienced a similar problem when her wheelchair attachment stowed in the hold of an aeroplane failed to function following another journey on the same route with the carrier.
Morgan met with British Airways executives on Monday to review the airline’s efforts in improving its service for disabled customers and how it looks after their equipment. Morgan has also presented Crufts, the Paralympics, The One Show, and Dispatches.
She said: ‘It was encouraging. They’re really aware and they’re just working on every front… to make sure that the system is better.’
Analysing aircraft design, staff training, and ground handling procedures are all part of this.
There is ‘a lot going on’ in terms of work towards helping disabled passengers, she revealed, but added: ‘I wouldn’t say we’re seeing real-world tangible change quick enough.’
Morgan, who was paralysed from the chest down in a car crash when she was 18, said there is ‘nothing more frustrating’ for a disabled airline passenger than having their mobility device damaged.
‘It’s more than just an inconvenience,’ she said. ‘It is extremely debilitating. It’s unforgivable.’
The TV star continued: ‘I think people perhaps don’t quite understand this severity, the damage it does to your life and your ongoing confidence when flying.
‘I keep hearing more and more disabled people saying they don’t want to fly anymore.’
In response to the incident, a British Airways spokesman said: ‘We’re really sorry for our customer’s experience and are in direct contact with her to resolve the issue as we investigate what happened.
‘We carry hundreds of thousands of customers who require additional assistance each year and we work hard to provide help and support them throughout the whole journey. It’s extremely disheartening when things go wrong, and we don’t underestimate the impact this has.
‘We’re committed to ensuring we deliver a consistently good service, and we’ll be working closely with Sophie and our dedicated accessibility teams to discuss how we can continue to make improvements to ensure a great flying experience for everyone.’
During an appearance on Loose Women in February, Sophie choked back tears as she revealed the damage done to her £8,000 wheelchair by British Airways.
‘I’m frustrated because this isn’t isolated – it keeps happening,’ she explained.
‘It makes you feel you are not important and not valued.’
She went on to explain how she didn’t want to be ‘sitting here another time having this conversation again and again and again’.
