October 09, 2012
AIRLINE passengers are faking disabilities to skip to the front of the boarding queue.
The practice is now so common airline staff have coined the phrase “miracle flights” - to describe how some passengers need a wheelchair to board the plane but then suddenly on departure their legs seem to work.
Passengers who genuinely have reduced mobility are entitled to assistance and are permitted to board the plane first. But the scam doesn’t work so well at the other end, where disabled passengers are the last to exit the plane.
“We’d say there was a miracle because they all needed a wheelchair getting on, but not getting off,” Kelly Skyles, an American Airlines flight attendant told the New York Times. “Not only do we serve beverages and ensure safety - now we’re healing the sick.”











