Basically I got hassled about using my portable, battery-operated handheld nebulizer on two United flights back from ACV to IAD last year. The first stewardess kept wanting me to stow my nebulizer, even though I needed to use it right that minute. And as anyone with asthma knows, every second counts when you're having an attack. It can't wait until the pilot turns off the fasten seat belt light so you can retrieve it from the overhead bin.
We compromised and put the bag up, and I used the neb, stowing it when I was done. But I shouldn't have been hassled in the first place - this is for medical reasons! And it's one of the reasons I'm disabled, rated so by the Social Security Administration, even; handicapped placard for my car, etc..
Then when we changed planes in SFO, a stewardess actually asked me if it was TSA-approved, I replied that it doesn't have to be, as TSA guidance says nebs are ok to take on planes-all planes. If you think about it, I got past TSA to get on the plane, so obviously if there was a problem, I wouldn't have got that far. She didn't seem convinced, but I wasn't about to let her interfere This is medically-related - no one has the right to interfere. Would she have preferred me to have needed medical assistance & grounded the plane so I could get it? I wonder about that now.
When I lodged a formal complaint with United recently, I was referred to a United webpage where it talked about Ventilators, Respirators, & CPAP machines needing preauthorization by United. But a nebulizer isn't any of these things, as I pointed out to the Customer Relatioms Officer (CRO), Karen S, who apologized in an email & offered me 5,000 United miles.
The webpage also deferred to FAA guidelines, so I looked that up & saw the FAA has no problem with nebulizers and is encouraging airlines to incorporate them into their rules. I also provided Karen S. with this link;& a link to the manufacturer's ( my nebulizer's) webpage, so she could understand what equipment I had. It's only got one button - on/off; isn't programmable, has no remote, & uses 2 AA removable batteries
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She didn't like what i said at all. She emailed back, apologizing, but referring me to yet another United webpage, this time about personal electronic devices needing United approval, but not mentioning nebulizers (or anything medical) at all. She actually tried to tell me there are no nebulizers that are approved for use on United flights!!!! That can't be true, especially as I used mine the previous year with no problems! How would a CPAP/respirator/ventilator be ok if a neb. is not? A personal neb is smaller than any of those.
So I made sure to tell her (in my response) that United is going against the Americans with Disabilities Act if that is true. My nebulizer is for medical purposes, and no company should be issuing guidance against a medical device Plus, just because a device isn't listed specifically in their regulations, doesn't mean it's automatically banned.
She also said that it wasn't United's policy to read other agencies' webpages. Yet she felt justified in referring me to United's when they weren't even applicable - how hypocritical. It also showed she wasn't paying attention to what I said, either. I'd already provided her guidance that proved the FAA & TSA don't have a problem with it. So why should United? Again, it was ok in 2015 but not 2016? That doesn't make any sense.
I would think that being in violation of ADA would really make any company's employee concerned - that's legal hot water, potentially! But no, she just apologized again & continued to quote regulations that aren't pertinent to nebulizers at all. Like I'd fly with United again, after being told I can't use my nebulizer? How was she thinking that would work, I wonder? My asthma doesn't stop just because I'm in the air or travelling. An inhaler isn't always enough, as anyone with asthma knows.
No wonder the stewardesses were confused if a United CRO can't even issue the right guidance & refuses to understand what a customer is saying! Plus, there is no reason I should have had to research FAA, TSA, or United regulations myself in an attempt to simply communicate with a United employee. I mean, shouldn't she have known, & in far greater detail than myself? She wouldn't even address the topics I raised; yet she thinks she's "communicating" with me? Please!
I don't think I've got to the bottom of this problem yet,& will try to file a complaint again, this time against the CRO Karen S, so I can try get the truth of whether United bans asthma nebulizers; or whether these 3 people are just ignorant of the rules & laws concerning their use. Never flying with them again, obviously - this is already way too much effort to have had to put into what should have been a simple problem to solve. Their response so far is disappointing to say the least. I may file a complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for ADA violations, too. read more