Airline staffer said people in wheelchairs just want 'priority,' a traveler with a disability claims
Traveler who is blind said she was treated like a second-class citizen during a recent airline experience
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Toronto woman who is blind said a recent flight with Air Canada left her feeling like an "unwanted burden."
Georgia Pike, a graduate student at York University in Toronto, said her experience had her entangled in "a system that discriminates against people with disabilities," according to Canada’s CBC News website.
She wasn’t the only one treated like a second-class citizen by the airline, she claimed — people who use wheelchairs were also allegedly slighted by airline personnel, she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pike was traveling to Toronto from Phoenix, Arizona, on Jan. 31 with her seeing eye dog, Maggie, as CBC reported.
She informed Air Canada staff several times that she needed an escort to follow her so that she and her service dog could navigate customs and make it safely to her departure gate.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Passenger Georgia Pike's recent Air Canada flight left her feeling like an "unwanted burden," she said. Fox News Digital reached out to Air Canada. (iStock)
After much waiting and having to "tag along" with airport workers pushing other passengers who use wheelchairs, she says she was taken part of the way to security, she told CBC News.
She was left behind by an airport worker who couldn't take her any further because she didn't have priority boarding status, she said.
She was then told the screening area was "over there," although she repeatedly told staff she was visually impaired, she also said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"After making it through customs, the airline worker I was following explained that many people in wheelchairs could actually walk and were just using wheelchairs to get ‘priority.’"
Finally, a worker pushing another passenger in a wheelchair "begrudgingly" allowed her to follow him, she said.
It took an hour and a half to get to her gate, she also said, according to CBC News.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}When she finally landed in Toronto, things only got worse, she also said.
All the able-bodied passengers de-planed before she could make her way to the front, she continued.
Passenger Georgia Pike, from Toronto, said she was left behind by airport workers because she didn't have priority status. She is blind, has a seeing eye dog and needs assistance to navigate airports. (iStock)
She followed one airline employee "for about 20 steps" before the worker turned around and said the plane crew had to first deboard "so she could lock the doors," Pike told CBC News.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pike found herself waiting again. She was the last passenger to leave the plane, according to her account.
She was then passed off to another worker, she said, who took her to a large open space where several people in wheelchairs were also waiting.
There, she alleges, an airline supervisor said it would be faster if the passengers "just walked."
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"After making it through customs, the airline worker I was following explained that many people in wheelchairs could actually walk and were just using wheelchairs to get 'priority,'" Pike told CBC News.
"Clearly, those people in wheelchairs were not getting prioritized for anything," said graduate student Georgia Pike of other passengers with disabilities. (iStock)
"I was stunned … Clearly, those people in wheelchairs were not getting prioritized for anything," Pike said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The entire series of missteps left Pike feeling demoralized, she claimed.
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"I don't think it's fair for disabled people to have to wait until the last minute to be able to be taken through the paces and put on a plane," Pike said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'm a blind person trying to get from the airport to my home and the amount of barriers that I encountered … It's degrading."
"It puts this undue burden on people of, 'You are a last priority and we are going to do the bare minimum to get you to your gate.'"
Fox News Digital reached out to Air Canada for comment.
On its website, Air Canada says it is "committed to providing the highest quality of service to all our customers and to making our commitments to customers with disabilities readily available," noted CBC News.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Georgia Pike, a York University student who is blind, said she was traveling with her guide dog, Maggie (not pictured), when she encountered multiple difficulties during a recent flight. (iStock)
For passengers who require assistance, Air Canada "strongly recommends" contacting the medical assistance desk 48 hours before departure, its website notes.
Pike said she let the airline’s medical assistance desk know of her needs 48 hours before departure, and received a confirmation from the airline about her service request for assistance from check in to the gate, and upon arrival.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I paid the same amount for my flight as my able-bodied counterparts, yet I and other people with disabilities were treated as unwanted burdens" by the airline's ground crew, said Pike, who described herself as visually impaired.
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She added, "I'm a blind person trying to get from the airport to my home and the amount of barriers that I encountered … It's degrading."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News Digital attempted to reach Georgia Pike for further comment.