{"id":631733,"date":"2026-04-27T11:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/631733\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T11:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:07:12","slug":"i-denied-boarding-a-flight-because-im-disabled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/631733\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I Denied Boarding a Flight Because I’m Disabled’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMarissa Bode<\/a> is calling out Southern Airways after she claims that she was denied boarding a flight because of her wheelchair, despite her manager checking with the company beforehand.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Wicked<\/a> actress, who played Nessarose on the big screen adaptations, took to TikTok <\/a>on Thursday to share her frustrations, saying, \u201cI was denied boarding a flight because I\u2019m disabled. I wish that were clickbait. I wish that were false, but that is what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBode explained that Southern Airways is \u201cextremely, extremely small\u201d and that she had to use the airline as her connecting flight due to limited options heading to her destination in a small Pennsylvania town.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile switching between flights, the actress said she was having trouble finding her virtual ticket before boarding the Southern Airways plane. Once she got to the gate, that\u2019s when she asked two employees for assistance. However, they instead told her she wasn\u2019t allowed to board due to being in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo I got to the gate, and I was like, \u2018Hey, could you help me locate my boarding pass?\u2019\u201d Bode recounted of the interaction. \u201cAnd the two people at the gate look at me, and they are like, \u2018Can you stand?\u2019 And I said, \u2018No.\u2019 And they said, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, but because of that, we\u2019re going to have to deny you boarding.\u2019 They proceeded to tell me all the planes within this airline have stairs to get on the plane. Wild. Never heard of that before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe continued, \u201cWhy are we once again waiting around for a disabled person to be present to even think about changing things or accommodating things. \u2026 And that\u2019s exactly what I said to him. I was like, disabled people are not an afterthought. Why, knowing that disabled people exist, which y\u2019all clearly often forget, do you choose not to update your planes? And I was like, \u2018This is blatant segregation.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBode even noted that her manager \u201cliterally called them, talked to them on the phone, asked [Southern Airways] if they could make that accommodation, and they fully assured [her manager], yes,\u201d before booking the flight.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Southern Airlines\u2019 current contract of carriage<\/a>, \u201cCustomers must be able to ascend and descend several steps to board the aircraft. Our aircraft hold 28 or fewer passengers and therefore are not required under the Air Carrier Access Act (section 382.97) to provide mechanical lift devices for enplaning or deplaning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Bode\u2019s TikTok went viral, she shared in a follow-up video that the director of Southern Airways\u2019s mobility department reached out to her over the incident.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey called me,\u201d she said. \u201cThe director was mortified. She was very apologetic, very understanding, which I really do appreciate. They are doing an internal look on things and how this happened, again because we did call ahead of time before booking, asking about the accommodation. They are also currently staying in contact with me in terms of how we can make it better in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n