Thrown Off a Flight from Singapore to Manila for expressing my disability needs!!!!

On January 1, I was traveling from Singapore to Manila,
Philippines. This was, in fact, the worst travel experience in my life having traveled
for all my life to more than 75 countries and hundreds of major and budget airlines.
I have never seen such horrible behavior of airline staff towards disability.

At check in that day, I confirmed that my wheelchair would be at the gate in Manila. I
had also filled out the form for wheelchair assistance and informed the airline
about my needs a month prior. After getting to the gate, I told two of the ground
agents about my needs regarding my wheelchair. I always give my wheelchair at the
gate and it comes to the gate again at my arrival destination as per all airline and
airport protocol. They both said that my wheelchair would go to the baggage claim
in Manila. I, then, explained that all airlines bring a personal wheelchair to the
destination gate and that I have traveled in Jetstar in Australia as well. I explained to
the agent that I need it at the Manila gate, as it is fragile and will break when it goes
to the baggage claim. The agent rudely and stubbornly said that Manila airport does
not do this. This conversation went like this:

Me: Yes, all airports do bring it up and Manila can do so.

Agent: Absolutely not! It’s going to baggage claim. You can email Jetstar for
complaints.

Me: I have traveled to more than 75 countries and every airport does this. This is
2018 and your airline is in the dark ages not to know that.

Agent: do you want to go on another airline? because your wheelchair will not be at
the gate.

Me: No, I have to go to Manila today and I have a confirmed boarding pass on this
flight.

Then, she called the flight attendant from the plane
Flight Attendant: no, you will not get your wheelchair at the gate. Don’t get upset!
You are delaying the flight. (there was, in fact, 30 more minutes for boarding).

Me: If my wheelchair breaks at the baggage claim, you will not be there or
responsible, right?

Agent: yes, I will not be there. You can send an email for a complaint.

At this point, my mother said, “no, we will take the flight and just deal with it in
Manila”.

After this, I was asked to sit at the gate. Then, they boarded another passenger with
a wheelchair and not me. I kept waiting as all passengers boarded the flight. When I
asked repeatedly, they said wait.

Then, I got the shock of my life! They ended boarding and then came to me and said
that they have decided to take me off from flying on this flight because I was a
disruptive passenger. At this point, I was shocked and had no choice but to comply,
as I was scared and being bullied by your staff. They told me that they would escort
me back out from immigration and treated me like a criminal with no assistance
with my wheelchair.

When I got to immigration, the airline agent told them that I didn’t fly due to
disruptive behavior. I told the immigration what happened step by step and they
were shocked that just questioning about my wheelchair got me in this situation.
After getting out of immigration, I spent the next 4 hours running around between
terminals to figure out what flight I can get on with my own expense and my own leg
work. It is the first time I have had to push my wheelchair through such a large
airport (3 terminals) with no assistance given and my mother taking around our
luggage.

Luckily, finally I found a flight on Philippines airlines. The agent who booked the
flight for me was kind and knew wheelchair procedures. After going to the gate, I
had a similar conversation with the agent about my wheelchair and they said that I
would be getting my wheelchair at the gate in Manila and sent a message to Manila
airport. When reaching Manila, the in flight crew told the ground staff about my
wheelchair and my wheelchair came to the gate without any issues. So, as you can
see, the agents were wrong, uninformed about airport procedures, and just didn’t
want to deal with wheelchair services!

As I think about this incident, it angers me that Jetstar Asia would treat me in such a
way for having a voice and advocating for myself. If voicing my concerns is
“disruptive behavior” then, that’s a shame.