Airline Defends Barring Woman With Down Syndrome From Flight

A woman with Down syndrome says American Airlines stopped her from boarding a flight to visit relatives, while the airline maintains it acted in line with its safety procedures.

Jennifer Jaspers arrived at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 23 after being dropped off by her mother.

The 52-year-old was preparing for her annual solo trip to North Carolina, where she planned to spend time with her father and cousins and celebrate her birthday.

But as she went through check-in, Jaspers was reportedly asked a question that caught her off guard, according to WOWT.

Her mother, Cindy Garrett, said an airline employee asked Jaspers “whether she could get herself out of a building by herself.” Jaspers replied, “I don’t know.”

Following that exchange, American Airlines concluded that Jaspers would need a safety assistant to board the aircraft in order to comply with company policy.

Jaspers said she broke down in tears after she was not given a boarding pass. Garrett said her daughter had flown alone many times before without issue.

“I can fly by myself,” Jaspers told the outlet.

Her mom offered an explanation for her daughter’s response at the check-in gate.

‘Because it threw her [off],’ Garrett told WOWT. ‘She didn’t know how to answer that.’

Garrett said her family had previously used a different procedure during Jaspers’s travels to ensure everything went smoothly.

‘To transfer airplanes, we have it set up that they walk her to the next gate,’ Garrett said.

She claimed that she told American Airlines that ‘there’s never been a problem’ with her daughter’s travel plans.

‘She has a phone in her purse all the time,’ Garrett said. ‘She knows how to use it.’

Garrett added that a supervisor got involved in the situation before her daughter’s boarding pass was denied.

In response to the incident, American Airlines said that passengers who cannot follow safety instructions need to travel with a safety assistant, per the outlet.

Jaspers was offered that option for free but turned it down, the airline said in a statement.

‘To support those who need ​special assistance, customers who ​are unable to ​follow safety instructions ​during their journey ​are required to travel with ​a ​safety assistant,’ American Airlines told the outlet.

‘Upon review, our team followed established procedures to determine that a safety assistant would be required to travel with the customer – and that option was offered at no cost,’ the statement continued.

Jaspers’s ticket was subsequently refunded, according to the company.

Garrett said that Jaspers is still planning to fly to North Carolina, albeit with a couple of twists.

‘She had a first-class ticket, so she won’t be able to go first class anymore,’ Garrett said.

Instead, Jaspers’s father has spent about two weeks planning a round trip flight that costs about $1,800.

He would come to Omaha and serve as her travel assistant.

Garrett said the family would ask American Airlines if the offer for the safety assistant to be cost-free still applied.

‘If they’re the ones demanding that there needs [to be] a second person there, [then] at least half of it, they should pay,’ she told the outlet.

The Air Carrier Access Act states that airlines cannot refuse transportation to people on the basis of disability and that airlines may not require a person with a disability to travel with another person. 

However, there are exceptions for ‘certain limited circumstances’ where the airline can require a safety assistant.

‘If a passenger with a disability and the airline disagree about the need for a safety assistant, the airline can require the assistant, but cannot charge for the transportation of the assistant,’ the rule continues.

The Daily Mail has reached out to American Airlines for further comment.