Jennifer Jaspers had been anticipating this journey. The 52-year-old Omaha resident planned to visit her father and cousins in North Carolina, including a new cousin she hadn’t yet met, and had a first-class ticket. She also had a birthday coming up. On the morning of July 23, her mother, Cindy Garrett, drove her to Eppley Airfield and, as families do at airports every day, walked her to the American Airlines check-in counter. It didn’t feel out of the ordinary. Jaspers, who has Down syndrome, has flown alone numerous times.
The question then surfaced. Jaspers was asked if she could leave a building by herself during the check-in procedure. She was thrown by it. “She said ‘I don’t know,’ because it threw her; she didn’t know how to answer that,” Garrett later said. It’s the kind of question that, if asked out of the blue in a crowded airport, would almost certainly cause someone to pause. However, it seems that Jennifer’s hesitation prompted a more thorough evaluation. A manager intervened. “I started crying at the airport,” Jaspers said after realizing that she would require a safety assistant in order to fly.
American Airlines cited its special assistance policy, which mandates that travelers must travel with a companion if they are unable to follow safety instructions, such as how to evacuate a terminal, wait alone during delays, or take care of personal needs on their own. The airline claimed that its employees adhered to established protocols, that a free safety assistant was provided, and that Jasper’s ticket was reimbursed when she decided not to travel under those circumstances. From the airline’s point of view, everything went as planned. Technically, that might be true. However, the way it happened still seems strange.
Garrett claims that accommodations for her daughter’s subsequent flights had already been made, and airline staff were prepared to guide Jaspers from one gate to the next. Jennifer has a phone with her and is proficient in using it. She had previously traveled through airports by herself without any problems. The evaluation at the counter didn’t seem to take any of that history into account. What did play a role was a single impromptu question that, regardless of cognitive profile, would unnerve the majority of people when asked coldly.
To put it simply, many people with Down syndrome fly alone, according to Elizabeth Draney, director of the Down Syndrome Alliance. She thot it was important to question how the policy is implemented rather than the policy itself. “If they have these questions they ask to determine if someone can fly, who are they deciding who to ask those questions to?” Draney stated. It makes sense to be concerned about that. The real problem lies in the lack of a publicly accessible account of how airline employes choose which passengers to screen.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, with a few exceptions for legitimate safety concerns, the Air Carrier Access Act generally forbids airlines from requiring a disabled passenger to travel with a companion. The airline may enforce the companion requirement in the event of a dispute, but it is not permitted to charge for the additional ticket. The DOT advised affected customers to file complaints through its Office of Aviation Consumer Protection and stated that it takes complaints regarding disabilities seriously. Since then, Garrett’s family has paid about $1,800 for Jasper’s father to travel with her from North Carolina to Omaha. They intend to inquire as to whether American Airlines’ initial free offer is still valid.
After that morning, Jennifer Jaspers never unpacked. Her suitcase has been waiting, probably still containing whatever she packed for a birthday trip to meet a new cousin. She is still eager to leave. At least that part hasn’t changed.
