Virgin Australia apologises to disability advocate removed from flight over wheelchair motor
Shane Hryhorec’s viral video showing the interaction with flight staff has already garnered 16 million views Virgin Australia has apologised to a disability advocate who said he was “humiliated” by his removal from a flight over his wheelchair motor. The airline called Shane Hryhorec on Wednesday afternoon to offer an apology, two days after the Adelaide-based man published a viral video showing…
Virgin Australia has issued an apology to disability advocate Shane Hryhorec, who was removed from a flight due to his wheelchair motor. The Adelaide-based man, who suffers from C5 incomplete quadriplegia and uses a SmartDrive wheelchair, shared a viral video showing the incident on TikTok and Instagram, garnering 16 million views.
Hryhorec, who previously flew with Virgin Australia without issue, was asked to stow his motor under the seat due to a new rule, despite no space available. Staff members were heard criticizing him and suggesting he delete the video. The airline acknowledged the incident, regretting the distress caused and the fact that their standards were not met.
Hryhorec has since filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and plans to continue advocating for change. Virgin Australia stated they would learn from this incident and strive to improve their services for customers with disabilities.
Written by urgent.news from The Guardian Australia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
