This is a letter written by Mr Thomas Chan Kim Yong, published in The Straits Times' Forum pages on Feb 19.
I AM visually handicapped and travel quite frequently on my own as my family is in Australia. I bought a return air ticket to Sydney via the website of budget carrier Scoot on Oct 1 last year.
On Oct 4, my friend called Scoot to inform the airline that I was a blind person who was travelling on his own. The airline's agent said everything was noted in the system.
But on the day of departure on Dec 19, I was told by the check-in counter staff that there was no record that I had requested special assistance. I was not allowed to board the plane, even though I told the staff I needed to spend Christmas with my family.
A passenger who was taking the same flight offered to help me board the plane. He was willing to sign an agreement to state that he would be fully in charge of me throughout the journey. However, the duty manager refused to allow me to fly with him as he was not related to me.
She gave me two choices - either I find someone related to me to fly with me, or abandon my travel plans and Scoot would give me a refund. I was forced to buy another ticket from Singapore Airlines the next day to fly to Sydney on my own.
In the end, Scoot was willing to refund me only about $140. Just because I am visually handicapped does not mean I cannot take care of myself.
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