The Fear Of Flying

The Fear Of Flying

Future Reflections Sept./ Oct./ Nov.1984, Vol. 3 No. 4
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THE FEAR OF FLYING
by Joyce Scanlan, President, National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota
Reprinted from the Spring 1984 issue of The
Blindside.
I hope you enjoy flying. If you're a nervous flyer,
as I am, you worry about heights, schedules,
luggage, turbulence. And, if you're blind, you
have added cause for concern. The skies are
rarely friendly.
From takeoff to touchdown, misconceptions
about blindness follow us. Skycaps whisk us
through the airport in wheelchairs and motorcars.
Arms grab us at the security station,
inspecting us with hand-scanning devices. At
the gate, the airline agent selects our seat for us
-- usually a bulkhead seat for the sake of our dog
guide, even if we don't have a dog guide. We
must preboard the aircraft with children and the
elderly because we need "extra time." If we
happen to sit in an exit-row seat, we won't be
there for long. According to airline personnel,
we can't move fast enough in an emergency.
And if we're the last to deplane, it's usually not
because we enjoyed the flight so much. Rather,
well-meaning but misinformed cabin attendants
have more time to "help" us if we wait for other
passengers to leave.
There are other ridiculous rules -- the four-to-a
plane limit for blind people, for example, and a
rule ordering blind people to surrender our canes
during takeoff and landing. Fortunately, many
of these regulations have been changed, reflecting
a more enlightened attitude toward blind
travelers' capabilities.
But new problems are taking their place. Last
January, twelve Minnesota Federationists flew from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C. The
American Airlines flight from Minneapolis to
Chicago was pleasant; the cabin crew was concerned
for the comfort of all passengers, and
Federationists looked forward to the remainder
of the trip.
But the crew changed in Chicago, and so did our
hopes for an enjoyable trip. An attendant ordered
Jan Bailey and Steward Prost, who are blind,
to move to other seats. "Some sort of computer
error," the attendant said, but later admitted
that Jan and Stewart were being moved because
-- according to American Airlines regulations
-- they were too close to the exit row. We asked
for copies of the alleged regulations, but were
refused.
What followed was confusing and insulting. Jan
and Stewart were moved to other coach-class
seats. The passengers already occupying those
seats were given first-class seats to "make up for
the inconvenience." It seems to us that the
attendant could have eliminated that inconvenience
by moving Jan and Stewart into first class
to begin with. Or could it be that American
Airlines doesn't believe blind persons are first
class citizens?

The NFB will work to change rules that restrict
seating for blind flyers, for if we do not, as one
blind person put it, "there may come a time
when we'll have to fly standing up."
NFB President Dr. Kenneth Jernigan once said,
"We in the Federation may lose battles, but we
never lose the war, because the war is not over
until we win." The war with the airlines will
continue until blind people are included among
the ranks of first-class citizens.
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