DENVER, Colorado - June 21, 2011 - A quadriplegic man from Fort Collins was forced off a Frontier Airlines plane because a pilot said it wasn't safe for him to fly.
His mother, Kathleen Morris, said there was no problem two days earlier when her son flew Frontier from Denver International Airport to Dallas to attend a family wedding.
But Sunday afternoon, when he boarded in Dallas to come home, John Morris and his family said they were humiliated.
"When a flight attendant saw John strapped in, they said they would have to clear it with the captain," said Kathleen Morris.
She said that her son is a quadriplegic with limited upper body control.
Morris has flown Frontier Airlines in the past, using an airline seat-belt extension to secure his chest and legs to the seat. The extension is normally used by larger passengers who need a longer seat belt to secure their waist.
"But this time, the pilot refused to take off," she said. "So I said that we wouldn't get off the plane until they figured it out."
Fellow passenger Denny Cannon was seated nearby and overheard that Frontier couldn't use its equipment for medical purposes. So he and other upset passengers offered to help.
"Me and other passengers said, 'Well, sure, use our belts and we'll somehow restrain him and then you won't be using Frontier products," Cannon recalled.
But in the end, to the dismay of other passengers, Frontier called airport police. Three police officers boarded the plane.
Kathleen Morris said she felt it was insensitive that the pilot never came out to talk with her son or examine how he was restrained in his seat.
The mother said sympathetic police officers told her of their discussion with the pilot.
The officers told the pilot this was not a law enforcement matter, according to Kathleen Morris. "It looks like he's safely restrained," an officer told the pilot, according to Kathleen Morris. "This is not an issue for us because he's not posing a problem for the plane or other passengers."
The captain again refused to take off with Morris onboard. "He cannot fly. I want him off this plane," the pilot told police, according to Kathleen Morris.
"It was humiliating," the mother said. "The officers kept apologizing to me and to John and kept saying, 'This is wrong.'"
The 24-year-old Colorado State University student said he couldn't believe how he was treated on the plane, and he was sorry for the delay the incident caused. "I felt horrible," he said. "I just felt like I didn't belong. I haven't felt that bad since the accident."
"It was very demoralizing and dehumanizing. It should have been dealt with at the gate, not after he was already boarded," said one passenger.
Frontier Airlines, known as one of the least customer-friendly airlines in operation, defended the actions of the pilot, stating that the pilot has absolute authority to remove anyone from his aircraft.
There has been no word yet as of whether John Morris intends to sue Frontier Airlines for their clearly discriminatory behavior.
Ed. Note: Personally, I hope he sues for a billion dollars and bankrupts this excuse for an airline. I hope the pilot is fired and can never again get a job flying commercially. When is enough, enough? People need to fight back against the rampant injustice and tyranny being foisted on them. Revolution Now! Independence Forever!