Frank Gardner, a wheelchair-bound BBC journalist, was one of the passengers on Monday's LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw. He said that because he was not provided with access to a wheelchair on board, the Briton had to crawl on the floor of the plane to use the toilet. The airlines issued a statement on this matter.
“Wow. It's 2024 and I just had to crawl along the deck of the Polish airline LOT to reach the toilet,” wrote Frank Gardner on X (formerly Twitter – ed.) on Monday evening. According to the journalist's entry, he was told by the crew that the lack of wheelchairs on board was the airline's “policy”.
“If you are a person with a disability and cannot walk, it is simply discriminatory,” said the Briton briefly. “I will not fly with LOT again until it enters the 21st century,” added the journalist. He also emphasized that he did not blame the crew, who were “as helpful and compassionate as they could” to him.
Frank Gardner has been in a wheelchair since 2004, when he was shot several times during an attack in Saudi Arabia. The journalist worked there as a correspondent for the BBC at that time.
A BBC journalist crawled on a LOT plane
LOT responded to the incident described by the BBC journalist in a statement sent to tvn24.pl. In it, they apologized “for the discomfort caused by the lack of a wheelchair on board.” “We are very sorry for the experience that Mr. Frank Gardner encountered during his last flight with us,” it was emphasized.
LOT also stated that wheelchairs are currently available on board long-haul Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. “We understand how important accessibility is and are currently actively testing solutions to soon also equip short-haul aircraft with wheelchairs for moving around on board,” the airline said. PLL LOT. It was not indicated what model of LOT plane the journalist was flying on.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience Mr. Gardner has experienced and sincerely apologize for the stress he has caused,” it added.
Main photo source: X/@FrankRGardner