American Airlines Left An 89-Year-Old Behind In A Wheelchair—Then Tried To Put Her Out In The Rain

An 89-year-old woman was supposed to fly American Airlines from Fort Wayne to Lubbock on Tuesday evening. Her family says the worker pushing her wheelchair parked her somewhere at the airport, left, and never came back. She missed her flight. Her bags with her medication continued to Texas without her. Her grandson says the worker tried to leave her outside the airport in the rain. When she objected, she was placed in a glass entryway rather than taken to her gate. Itinerary screenshots show she had traveled from Lubbock to Fort Wayne on July 28. Then her August 11 return was supposed to be: Fort Wayne – Dallas Fort Worth, American flight AA4255 Dallas Fort Worth – Lubbock, American flight AA4299 Both American Eagle flights were operated by American’s wholly-owned subsidiary Envoy Air. The flight from Fort Wayne seven minutes after scheduled departure, and arrived in Dallas early. The Dallas–Lubbock flight was late leaving, giving her a two hour and 48 minute connection in Dallas. The family wrote that American’s earliest alternative would leave the next morning and that the woman was scared and crying, without clothes, toiletries, medication, or family. According to an American Airlines spokesperson, American Airlines strives to provide a positive and respectful experience for every customer — especially those who require the use of a mobility device — and we apologize to this customer for her recent experience. A member of our team has been in touch with this customer’s family to discuss what happened, and a gesture of goodwill was provided. Under the Air Carrier Access Act, American is required to: provide or ensure requested help from the terminal entrance (or adjacent drop off point) through the airport to the departure gate as well as gate-to-gate assistance during connections. offer preboarding and enplaning assistance. not leave such a passenger unattended for more than 30 minutes in an airport wheelchair or other device in which she is not independently mobile, unless the passenger expressly waives that protection. be responsible when a contractor performs the work. Airlines commonly outsource airport wheelchair work to companies such as Prospect, ABM, PrimeFlight, G2, Menzies, and Unifi. American Has Had Major Problems With Disability Accommodation American has long been among the worst carriers for mishandling passengers’ wheelchairs and other mobility devices placed in aircraft cargo compartments that are lost, damaged, and delayed. In October 2024 American received a “landmark” $50 million fine, twenty five times the previous largest airline disability fine, for its treatment of passengers. The latest data show improvement. For January through June 2026, the American network mishandled 964 of 77,535 checked wheelchairs and scooters, or 1.24 per 100. That ranked fifth of nine reporting airline networks, improved from 1.42 a year earlier, but was still more than three times Delta’s 0.36 rate. There’s no Bureau of Transportation Statistics data on ‘wheelchair passengers abanadoned in the airport who say someone tried to dump them outside in the rain.’ However, there’s a “failure to provide assistance” complaint category. In 2024, American reported 11,485 disability-related complaints, including 7,343 assistance failures. Envoy separately reported 176 total and 120 assistance failures. American had the largest failure count among U.S. carriers. These incidents sometimes wind up being quite similar to this one. For instance, an American passenger sued for being left her at a Miami gate, causing her to miss her flight and spend the night in the airport. Another American customer spent the night in Charlotte shortly after a stroke when she was abandoned in a wheelchair and left to fend for herself. And an 82-year-old nearly blind passenger was taken to the wrong gate in Orlando and missed her flight. Topics on this page