Alaska Airlines Passenger Sparks Airline Backlash With A Facebook Post

A longtime concert promoter and Oregon native has sparked heated backlash against Alaska Airlines through social media. After a disturbing airport experience, Cameron Clark logged onto Facebook and described the airline as “the worst of humanity.”

According to USA Today, Clark witnessed a disabled man miss his flight because the numerous airport personnel wouldn’t offer him extra assistance. The man had late-stage Parkinson’s disease, and even after Clark brought the situation to the airline staff’s attention, they refused to help. Because he wasn’t able to make his flight, the disabled man missed a limited window of time he had to meet his daughter in Bellingham, Washington.

Clark wrote: “what happened to our collective sense of decency, of compassion, of our disposition to help those in need of extra help. alaska airlines. you broke a man’s heart today. you maintained your policy, and ignored an opportunity to do the right thing. you broke my heart too.”

Although Clark didn’t intend for it to happen, the post went viral. Now, angry people are putting pressure on the airline to change their ways and hold themselves accountable.

Alaska Airlines has a different view of what happened. According to spokesman Paul McElroy, the man never mentioned he was disabled and, when staff smelled alcohol on him, assumed he was intoxicated. Although the man has not issued a formal complaint, the airline did refund his ticket and put him on a different flight.

[Photo via philosophygeek]