Horizon Air apologizes to disabled traveler after online backlash

Alaska and Horizon Airlines’ recent apology for reported
mistreatment of man with Parkinson’s disease is another
example of the power consumers now have over companies
through social media.

Cameron Clark of Bend wrote to his Facebook friends Friday
that he saw a disabled man miss a flight because numerous
airline personnel refused to give him extra assistance,
even after Clark intervened and asked employees to help.
Clark said the man told him he has late-stage Parkinson’s
disease.

Clark’s story spread quickly and sparked a series of angry
Facebook posts directed at the airline.

The president of Horizon Air issued a public
apology Monday on the Alaska Airlines Facebook page.

“We’ve determined that we could and should have handled
this better and I apologize to our passenger on behalf of
all of us at Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines,” wrote
Horizon Air President Glenn Johnson.

Clark told Oregon TV station KTVZ in a written statement
that he never intended for his post to become viral, but
the many people who responded to the story and put
pressure on Alaska Airlines to “show that the best of
humanity is alive and well. That light exists. That
accountability is possible.”

The spokesman for the airline says the man never told
airline staff that he was disabled.

“We are prohibited from asking customers if they have a
disability, and the customer never told us that he had
Parkinson’s, or any disability for that matter,” McElroy
said. “He did appear disoriented to us, and later, when we
smelled alcohol, we were led to the conclusion he was
intoxicated.”

“We don’t know whether this customer has Parkinson’s or
not,” McElroy added.

McElroy said the passenger has not complained to the
airline.

Either way, the passenger was refunded for the trip and
offered an additional airfare credit for another trip in
the future.

Horizon Air President Johnson says they have paired with
the Open Doors Organization, a disability advocacy group,
to make sure situations like this are handled better in
the future.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.