American Airlines broke a wheelchair by forcing it anyway

Jon Krieger says American Airlines damaged his custom power wheelchair on a flight from Detroit to Phoenix after staff forced it through a cargo door that was too small. He and his partner Amie Frei spent nearly 12 hours arranging temporary repairs, and on the

When Jon Krieger’s custom power wheelchair came through for him at the jet bridge. it wasn’t just inconvenient—it was broken in a way he didn’t think it had to be. He said ground crew told him they had to “pitch the chair backward a little. ” and soon he learned why that mattered: the wheelchair would not move. tilted far beyond what it was designed for.

Krieger, 41, has cerebral palsy and relies on the chair to get around. He said he and his partner. Amie Frei. were left dealing with the damage at the airport—nearly 12 hours in Phoenix—because the chair was not working properly after the mishandling on an American Airlines flight from Detroit to Phoenix on March 5.

The couple’s experience is now colliding with a simpler question Frei keeps returning to: if the airline could have identified a mismatch between the wheelchair and the aircraft’s cargo door, why wasn’t that considered before anyone forced the chair through?

Krieger said the problem became clear when he tried to use the wheelchair after it arrived. “These chairs are designed that if you’re in the wrong position it’ll shut itself off” as a safety precaution. he said. He and Frei spent the better part of a day at the Phoenix airport arranging for temporary repairs.

A technician recommended by Krieger’s usual repair shop in Michigan was able to get the chair into usable condition, but not fully functional. Krieger said four out of six chair functions work—enough for him to leave the airport for vacation, but not enough to restore the mobility he counted on.

Only on the trip home on March 14 did they fully understand what happened. Krieger said they were boarded on a plane of the same aircraft type as the flight to Phoenix and believed the return leg would be different. Instead, they were delayed again.

After about 45 minutes, Krieger and Frei were asked to deplane. The reason, he said, was that his wheelchair did not fit through the cargo door. “Jon and I looked at the cargo door previously,” Frei said. She added that they measured the chair and pointed to the dimensions for a Boeing 737 that can be found online. Frei said the manager told them that “technically. by the numbers. it should fit. ” but that the conveyor belt takes up “a good six inches of the cargo door.”.

Frei also described what she believed went wrong on the outbound flight: the previous baggage handler bent the chair past its design limits to get it on the flight to Phoenix.

By the time Krieger and Frei rerouted, the airline changed the plan in a way that finally matched the logistics issue they had identified. In the end, they were rerouted through Charlotte on different kinds of planes so his chair could be handled safely.

American Airlines, in a statement, acknowledged the experience. “We know how important mobility devices are for our customers, and we regret Mr. Krieger’s experience. Our team has been in touch with him directly to apologize and ensure his wheelchair was repaired as soon as possible. ” spokesperson Gianna Urgo said. “We have also provided a goodwill gesture, given the inconvenience this situation has caused.”.

Krieger said the airline provided $400 vouchers to him and Frei.

For Krieger. what lingered was not just the damage itself but the lack of proactive help when it became clear the wheelchair didn’t belong in the situation it was being forced into. He said better training and more direct communication would have made a difference. “Better training and being able to tell people with disabilities, hey, this does not fit. We have to reroute you because of XYZ,” he said. “I’m OK with that.”.

Frei said her hope is that airlines treat mobility equipment with the seriousness it requires. “We need to be treating people’s medical equipment the way we would treat a person,” she said. “This is part of Jon’s livelihood, this is how he interacts with the world.”

A technician can make repairs and a voucher can soften the cost. but the timeline of the couple’s trip shows how much time and uncertainty disability passengers can be forced to absorb when the process breaks down. Krieger’s chair was damaged on March 5. temporary repairs were arranged after nearly 12 hours in Phoenix. and the return trip on March 14 ended with additional delays before they were rerouted.

The case also arrives amid broader scrutiny of how frequently airlines handle wheelchairs and other mobility devices. U.S. airlines showed “significant improvement” in 2025 compared with 2024 in wheelchair damage rates, though problems still persist.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says the 10 largest U.S. airlines and their subsidiaries carried 907,259 wheelchairs and other mobility devices in 2025, and the DOT received 9,910 reports of mishandling—a rate of 1.09%. For comparison, carriers mishandled 1.26% of mobility devices in 2024.

Even with improvement at the industry level, Krieger and Frei’s experience underscores how quickly the stakes can feel personal when a device designed for someone’s safety is treated like a problem to squeeze through the wrong opening.

American Airlines wheelchair damage power wheelchair accessibility Department of Transportation mobility devices airline mishandling disability rights consumer vouchers