Lost Wheelchair no compensation
 

On Dec 10th I flew from Atlanta to San Antonio. I was pushed by an Airtran employee to the door of the plane. The chair was supposed to be stowed and returned at San Antonio. When I arrived the chair wasn't there. I filed a report with the baggage claim desk. They gave me a loaner and called me with updates for 5 days. The wheelchair never showed up. When I got home I filed a lost baggage claim with all the supporting information. The Airtran representative sent me a letter saying they were sorry about the mishandling of the wheelchair and if I wasn't happy with that response I should contact the Department of Transportation. I filed a complaint there today. I also read that as a disabled traveler they are required to transport my wheelchair and if they lose it they must pay me the original purchase price. I suppose Airtran doesn't comply with the law. At any rate, I guess the only way to get them to comply with the law is to sue them. It seems like a lot of trouble for $300. Maybe Southwest will fire CARLOS RESTREPOS for being a jerk when they finalize the takeover.

They are ABSOLUTELY required to replace your wheelchair. Don't let them bully you. They obviously aren't familiar with the law, which they should be. File a complaint with ADA and DOT and don't take no for an answer. Good luck.

Airline compensation
 

I filed a disabled person complaint with the Department of Transportation and got a reply back with a copy of the letter they sent to Airtran demanding action. I got a call that day from Airtran saying that I had misread the letter and they were sending me a check for the wheelchair. I didn't misread the letter, but the caller said the paragraph with the settlement must have been inadvertently deleted. At any rate I got the check for what I paid and was able replace the wheelchair with it.