Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle has reported that passengers are abusing wheelchair services to bypass lengthy airport security and boarding lines in a complete disregard for other passengers and hurting actually disabled passengers.
Speaking at an industry luncheon on Thursday, Biffle stated, “There is massive, rampant abuse of special services. There are people using wheelchair assistance who don’t need it at all.” The CEO’s comments come as the airline industry prepares for the Memorial Day weekend, one of the busiest travel periods in recent years.
Biffle remembered around 20 passengers boarding a flight using wheelchairs, but a very small number of those passengers actually needed assistance when landing — when they were in a hurry to get off and didn’t have to go through any checkpoints. “We are healing so many people,” he joked, highlighting the alleged misuse of these services.
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, Frontier said, “We believe there is widespread abuse among passengers using wheelchair services to move to the front of security lines and obtain priority boarding on flights, and the TSA and airlines are in a difficult position when it comes to managing the issue.”
