BBC journalist Frank Gardner, who uses a wheelchair, has accused Polish airline LOT of discrimination after being forced to crawl to the toilet due to the absence of onboard disability assistance. Gardner, left paralysed after an Al-Qaeda attack 20 years ago, shared his frustration on social media platform X following a flight from Warsaw, where cabin crew informed him that wheelchairs were unavailable due to “airline policy”.
Despite the crew’s polite assistance, Gardner was compelled to drag himself down the aisle to reach the toilet. He called the situation “discriminatory” for disabled passengers unable to walk.
LOT has since apologised, acknowledging the inconvenience. The airline explained that wheelchairs are available on long-haul flights but not on short-haul routes. LOT also stated they are testing solutions to equip short-haul aircraft with onboard wheelchairs in the future.
Gardner criticised the airline’s outdated policies, vowing not to fly with LOT until they modernise their accessibility measures.
Wow. It’s 2024 and I’ve just had to crawl along the floor of this LOT Polish airline to get to the toilet during a flight back from Warsaw as “we don’t have onboard wheelchairs. It’s airline policy”. If you’re disabled and you can’t walk this is just discriminatory. pic.twitter.com/aFuxo89DR5
— Frank Gardner (@FrankRGardner) September 30, 2024
