Frank Gardner, British journalist and retired British Army officer, had to go through a humiliating ordeal on a LOT Polish Airlines plane. According to Gardner, he had to crawl to the plane's bathroom since there was no onboard wheelchair whatsoever. Gardner became paralyzed after being shot six times in 2004 by al-Qaida gunmen in Saudi Arabia. He has been wheelchair-bound since.
Gardner reported the incident on his X account on September 30, alongside a picture of his legs on the floor. "Wow. It's 2024 and I've just had to crawl along the floor of this LOT Polish airline to get to the toilet during a flight back from Warsaw as 'we don't have onboard wheelchairs. It's airline policy,'" said Gardner. "If you're disabled and you can't walk this is just discriminatory."
"Polish Airlines LOT, which flies in and out of Heathrow, said it was not their policy to have onboard aisle chairs," Gardner wrote in a BBC piece. "This is unacceptable for disabled passengers, since these devices are smaller than a pram and can easily fold up to fit into a cupboard or an overhead locker."
Not The First Time
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time LOT has put Gardner through this. Back in May of this year, Gardner boarded a plane from Tallinn to London. He mentions that "its ground staff were really quite uncompromising and dismissed the idea that the plane should have this facility." He also mentions a similar experience 12 years ago with Kenya Airways.
However, Gardner wrote on X that, at least this time, he received better treatment from the Polish cabin staff. "In fairness to the cabin crew, they were as helpful and apologetic as they could be," said Gardner. "Not their fault, it's the airline. Won't be flying LOT again until they join the 21st century."
Despite Polish staff treating him better than his previous similar experiences, Frank Gardner reacted to a LOT apology directed to BBC Breakfast. However, he didn't receive a personal apology.
"So, LOT, the Polish airline that denies disabled passengers the chance to go to the toilet on their Euro flights, has sent an apology letter to BBC Breakfast, not to me," said Gardner on X. "But this is not a 1-off, they did the same thing in May, I just didnt eat or drink before flying with them."
