jsmallwood

Hello all and thank you for reading. I have lurked this forum for awhile but only having flown Cessnas I've felt it inappropriate to register and post. Perhaps it is still inappropriate for me to do so, but for my close friend I thought it was worth a shot.

My friend Brian is a paraplegic. By a miracle, perhaps a combination of the divine as well as modern technology, he is able to walk. He has spent his life since his accident 10 years ago as a motivational speaker and "adopting" underprivileged children through an organization called Compassion International. They have spent months raising money for a trip to Peru to help these children. Brian, despite his paralysis, was to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. He was to fly out on Spirit from KDTW to SPIM via KFLL tomorrow the 17th. To obtain another ticket at this point will cost them about $1200 per person, money which they do not have and would have come from donated funds for the children. If some of Spirit's union brothers and sisters have some spare capacity for a half dozen pax from KDTW, KCAK, KCLE, KCMH, KPIT or anywhere within driving distance at this point to SPIM we would be forever grateful. It would give your airline good PR as this story was covered by local news media last night. Please see the story by clicking here.

If you can help Brian and his support team out, please send me a private message and I'll provide you with his email or contact info. I'm sorry if this isn't the right place for this, but I really didn't know where to turn. Thank you for your time.

Jay5150

I appreciate your group's plight; however we pilots have absolutely no say in what plane goes where, or the ability to get folks on existing flights in difficult circumstances such as yours. I would suggest contacting the airlines themselves, though I really don't know personally whom you should contact. Maybe just call the regular reservations 800 number, explain your situation, and they may be able to put you in contact with the right person/department.

Good luck.

iPilot

While I'm sure this story is legit, it wouldn't surprise me if some of these are planted by union busters to try and pull on our heart strings.

Jsmallwood, sorry to hear about all this but as said above we can't really do much for you as pilots. Try calling around to other airlines or perhaps a charter company that might help you out.

todd1200

You may be able to find some pilots willing to donate buddy passes. Looks like the fees to get from Detroit to Lima (through Atlanta) on Delta would be about $140. Unfortunately, on the 17th the flight looks oversold.

jsmallwood

Thank you for the well wishes. He's been calling the reservation lines and corporate phone numbers for other airlines and has been talking to Continental a lot for a possible flight out of KCLE. He's waiting to hear back from them to see if they can offer a better price than what's on the website now. For this trip to work he needs to be down there by Friday so time is running out. I was just hoping someone with connections might read this and be able to help him out. I may be biased as his friend but I believe he's worthy of some assistance. If someone would like to verify the story first or just help out anonymously with buddy passes or anything, they may do so through the TV station who ran the aforementioned story, WEWS-TV at (216) 431-5555. Again, thanks for reading. Prayers are appreciated as well.

jsmallwood

Just wanted to come back on and say that Continental Airlines has come through for Brian and his team! This is most excellent news! Brian will be on WEWS-TV 5 news again tonight for anyone interested. Hopefully Spirit and the ALPA can come to a fair an equitable agreement soon so the pilots can resume working and feeding their families earning a competitive wage. I do wish you the best. Thank you all!

FlyerJosh

Glad to hear you found a good outcome!

FlyerJosh

FWIW, I respectfully disagree. As line pilots, we have a whole different level of access than the typical passenger. Even the most junior pilot at the company should know the "non-commercial" corporate phone number or a number for the HR or Marketing department.

I have helped set up charity rides/flights in the past with my former airline employer. Simply making a phone call on somebody's behalf and passing some basic information along can clear away a lot of red tape. It may or may not result in the company working towards a solution, but it's a lot beter than the OP calling a generic reservations number, getting transferred to Bangladesh and then trying to explain the situation to an agent that has no clue that the company may actually have a special charity program or benefit. Two hours later they are right back where hey started from.

When in doubt, call your HR or Marketing or Public Relations departments and pass along the info. (Be sure to include a way to contact the organization or individual in need). Many companies look for worthwhile causes that are worth some free positive press. (For instance, many airlines contribute to the Honor Flight Program and others participate in programs such as Angel Flight, Air Care Alliance, Miles for Children, SkyWish, etc)