Advocate recounts scooter damage, presses airlines to change

Maria Town, a disability advocate and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, says her mobility scooter was damaged during a Southwest Airlines trip from Washington, DC, to New Orleans on April 8, and she is urging airlines to improve how

When Maria Town stepped off a Southwest Airlines flight into New Orleans, she wasn’t surprised her mobility scooter was damaged—she was disappointed it had happened again.

Town. the president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities and who has cerebral palsy. traveled from Washington. DC. to New Orleans on April 8 for a work engagement. But when she arrived, her scooter wouldn’t power on. “It looked. at first glance. it looked fine. so I did most of the things that you’re supposed to do. I reset the circuit breaker in the battery. I physically took out the battery and put it back in, it would not turn on,” she said.

She then watched as Southwest staff tried to take the device apart, until she realized a wire had likely come loose during transit. “Sure enough, on the bottom of the scooter, a major wire was just pulled out,” she said.

For Town, the story isn’t only about one damaged scooter. She described a pattern that forces disabled travelers to plan for a failure they shouldn’t have to anticipate. “I chose my mobility aid because of how easy it is to get and how easy it is to replace. This is not the first time my scooter has been broken by an airline. and it won’t be the last. ” she told USA TODAY. “My choice of my mobility aid is directly informed by my experience of it being broken during air travel.”.

Town said it took about a month for her scooter to be repaired. Her claim with the airline was closed on April 24. She said she had a loaner available when she returned home on April 9.

But her criticism stretches beyond the payout or the replacement device. She said the expectation that customers can simply manage with a loaner at their destination breaks down in real life—especially outside normal business hours. “The expectation is that the customer will take their broken or damaged device with them to their destination,” she said. “What am I going to do with a completely inoperable scooter?”.

In an emergency, Town said it can be difficult to find a loaner outside of daytime hours. “A huge issue with durable medical equipment providers is that they’re really only open between 9 to 5. If you need a device before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m., it’s really hard to find one,” she said. “People don’t lead their lives just between the hours of 9 and 5.”.

Southwest Airlines acknowledged contact with Town following the incident, while declining to comment on individual customer experiences. In a statement. the airline said: “While we do not comment publicly on individual Customers’ experiences. we have been in direct contact with this Customer to resolve the situation. We are committed to providing a safe. welcoming. and accessible travel experience for all. including Customers with disabilities who travel with assistive devices. Our Teams work hard every day to support Customers with care and respect throughout their travel journey. and we continuously look for opportunities to improve Customers’ travel experiences.”.

Town said she felt frustrated by the speed of Southwest’s response and believed her advocacy role influenced how quickly she got attention. “Disabled people fly on the airlines all the time and don’t get any response. don’t have any visibility into what’s happening. ” she said. “You shouldn’t need to be a high-visibility person to get a response when an airline breaks your mobility device or something you rely on to go about your day.”.

She received a $200 voucher, but she said gestures don’t address the larger problem. “It’s not about making me whole. it’s about improving the services and systems. so no disabled person needs to experience this again. ” Town said. “This is likely to keep happening to me and to any other disabled person who flies. The choice that I have before me and that many disabled people have had to consider is: do I just not fly anymore?”.

The numbers show U.S. airlines have made some progress, though not enough for Town. In 2025, the 10 largest U.S. airlines and their subsidiaries carried 907. 259 wheelchairs and other mobility devices. and the Department of Transportation received 9. 910 reports of mishandling—a rate of 1.09%. That was an improvement from 2024, when carriers mishandled 1.26% of the mobility devices they transported.

Town’s account puts those percentages in sharper focus. A system can improve overall rates while still leaving individual passengers stranded with devices that won’t work when they need them most—at airports, at destinations, and outside standard hours when replacement isn’t guaranteed.

Southwest said it continues working to improve travel experiences for customers using assistive devices. but Town’s central message remains: an apology or a voucher doesn’t replace what was lost when a mobility aid fails. For passengers with disabilities. her question lingers long after the flight—how often does the next traveler have to be their own emergency plan?.

Southwest Airlines disability advocate Maria Town mobility scooter wheelchair damage Department of Transportation mishandled mobility devices air travel accessibility durable medical equipment assistive devices