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Travel nightmare nearly over for Tampa family
Jordan Bowen reports
TAMPA, Fla. - A Bay Area family's travel nightmare is almost over after their loved one who has disabilities was left stranded.
She was supposed to fly from Tampa to Syracuse Thursday night but was forced to spend the night in the airport when her connecting flight in Denver was canceled.
Her family says airport workers in Denver looked after her to ensure she stayed safe.
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Since Thursday, Shannon McGraw has been trying to get her cousin, 31-year-old Yelena Mordwinkin, to Syracuse for critical doctor's appointments.
"This has been an absolute nightmare for me and my family," McGraw said.
According to McGraw, Mordwinkin is hearing impaired, mentally challenged, and uses a wheelchair when she travels.
She flies as an assisted passenger, meaning she requires assistance getting to her gate, boarding the aircraft, and navigating connection points.
"When you take on the responsibility of an adult that's disabled, you're guaranteeing that family that they're going to make it to their destination safely, and that did not happen," McGraw said.
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McGraw says at one point on Thursday night, a Southwest worker found Mordwinkin in the Denver airport and made sure she got back home to Tampa after she was told by Frontier the next available flight wasn't until Sunday.
"She has been a Godsend in this situation. I am giving such shoutouts to Southwest for picking up something that was not their responsibility," McGraw said.
According to Frontier's website, its policy reads in part, "Although we will provide assistance to any passenger with a disability, we will not provide an employee or attendant to remain with the passenger."
It goes on to say, "When considering air travel, passengers should consider the possibility of flight delays, diversions, or any other flight irregularities. We encourage passengers to have a plan of action."
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"Check your airline out and find out what their entire policy is. Will someone be with your loved one the entire time? Because with Frontier, that was not the case. With other airlines, it is the case, but we found out too late and I don't want anyone else to ever have to go through what our family did," McGraw said.
As of Saturday night, Mordwinkin is on a non-stop Breeze Airways flight from Tampa to Syracuse, which departed TPA around 4 p.m. Saturday.