Traveler says she was locked in jet bridge without wheelchair

A disabled traveler flying with United Airlines said she was locked in the jet bridge without a wheelchair after landing.

"I am internationally stuck on the jet bridge with the plane closed all by myself, nowhere to sit – just waiting, hoping that they will bring somebody to come rescue me," TikTok user Birdie said in a video. In a subsequent video, she said she was flying from the U.S. to Canada, and a flight attendant told her a wheelchair should be waiting for her.

However, a gate agent later said the wheelchair request was not on her booking. The traveler had received wheelchair access earlier during the trip and "didn’t think that there was an issue with that part of my reservation."

The flight attendants offered to assist her, but they were not allowed to accompany her through the secured area of the airport. "So they ended up having to leave, and they all kind of left together, but nobody really said anything, and I’m just kind of waiting there, waiting there, and from the top of the jet bridge I heard, 'I’m gonna have to lock you in here,'" she recalled. "And I wasn’t even sure if she…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/travel/