Cape Town - Comair has agreed to fly a blind and deaf priest who was prevented from boarding a flight from Cape Town to Joburg at the weekend.
The Cape Argus reported this week that Father Cyril Axelrod, who was on his way to give a church service in Joburg, was turned away by Comair-run British Airways (BA), and told he could not fly alone though he had done so before.
Shaun Pozyn, Comair’s marketing manager, explained that the airline’s policy did not allow deaf and blind people to travel alone for safety issues, and that this was explained to Axelrod.
Comair was communicating with Axelrod to see how it could resolve the matter, Pozyn added.
Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, from Deafblind South Africa, contacted the Cape Argus on Tuesday to say that the airline had called its interpreter and told him that Axelrod would be allowed to fly on Thursday to Joburg and that the airline would provide an assistant for him.
On Saturday afternoon, as Axelrod tried to check in, a BA ground crew member said she was not sure if he would be allowed to fly alone, and she called a supervisor.
“I explained to them that I have flown alone to South Africa many times. But they called the captain, who said no, I am not allowed on the flight… I was shocked,” he said.
Axelrod said they asked him if he knew the emergency procedure and he recited it to them, but that did not help. His ticket was confiscated.
“I feel humiliated. They took away my human rights,” he said.
“They should have asked how I could assist them. They could have learned something.” He is to return to England next month. - Cape Argus