Woman says airline damaged wheelchair, left her stranded at Orlando airport

ORLANDO, Fla. - A Florida family says their trip through Orlando International Airport ended in humiliation and hardship after an airline damaged their mother's electric wheelchair, leaving her without proper mobility or support for days, and at one point, stranded in her urine for hours.

What we know:

A Florida family is speaking out after a Spirit Airlines flight ended with their disabled mother stranded at Orlando International Airport (OIA) without a functioning wheelchair. 

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Jeannie Estevez, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was returning from a family wedding in Kansas City when her electric wheelchair was found damaged upon arrival. The airline did not provide a proper loaner, forcing Estevez to endure hours of discomfort, including being left in her own urine while waiting at the airport.

Why the new laws didn’t help family

Dig deeper:

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg helped to push through new regulations for airlines handling wheelchairs and scooters. Those regulations, codified under the Air Carrier Access Act, were supposed to go into effect in January and possibly would have helped Estevez. 

For instance, she should not have waited around at the airport as long as she did. And the new rules require airlines to provide loaner wheelchairs that meet the needs of the individual user. The law emphasizes, "airlines must make best efforts and secure an appropriate loaner wheelchair or scooter, even if this involves reaching out to several vendors."

However, the Trump administration delayed enforcement of those rules until Aug. 1.

What we don't know:

It remains unclear what caused the wheelchair’s control panel to be ripped off during the flight, and Spirit Airlines has not disclosed whether any disciplinary or procedural changes have been made in direct response to the incident. 

Details are also lacking on why an appropriate replacement wheelchair wasn’t made available sooner, especially considering the known reliance of Estevez on the device for both mobility and safe transportation.

The backstory:

Jeannie Estevez has multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease affecting her central nervous system. She’s been wheelchair-bound for about 16 years now. She was flying with her mother, daughter, and grandson to Kansas City for her son’s wedding.

When they landed, they found the entire control panel for Jeannie’s wheelchair had been ripped clean off. Janelys Ojeda says she had to push her mom in the heavy, inoperable chair, while trying to keep an eye on her 4-year-old son and deal with the luggage.

They were staying two hours away, and found out the next morning that Spirit's wheelchair vendor didn’t have any available suitable chairs within a 100-mile radius, so Estevez went their entire trip with a damaged wheelchair.

Ojeda was able to come up with a partial solution to get some of the chair’s features up and running, but it couldn’t lean forward or back, and could only go one speed. When they flew back and landed in Orlando, they found out the entire wheelchair was broken on that flight. It was stuck in the on position and adjusting back and forth with a mind of its own.  

Once again, Spirit did not have a loaner Jeannie could take home. She wound up urinating on herself and sitting in it for hours while trying to get things sorted out. 

Jeannie’s wheelchair doubles as her car seat, so they’re left with no choice but to take a questionable, unsafe ride home. They went all day on Monday without a loaner chair. Tuesday, one finally arrived, but it wasn’t even close to meeting the standards Jeannie needed.

Jeannie says it was so bad, she spent most of the week in bed just to avoid the chair.

Big picture view:

This incident comes just before the enforcement of new federal regulations aimed at protecting air travelers with disabilities. Under rules set to take effect August 1, airlines will be required to make "best efforts" to provide appropriate loaner mobility devices and expedite service recovery. 

The delay in implementing these rules meant Estevez was not protected at the time of her ordeal—highlighting a critical gap in airline accessibility and disability rights.

What they're saying:

Jeannie Estevez, who has lived with multiple sclerosis for more than 15 years and relies on a motorized wheelchair, was returning from a family trip to Kansas City for her son’s wedding when the damage occurred. She was flying with her mother, daughter, and 4-year-old grandson, and said issues began as soon as they arrived at the airport.

"Our experience since the beginning, since we entered the airport, wasn’t that great," Estevez said.

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When the family landed back in Orlando, they discovered the wheelchair’s control panel had been ripped off. Without a functional chair or a suitable replacement, her daughter, Janelys Ojeda, was forced to push the inoperable unit while managing luggage and caring for her child.

"Obviously, the trip was very uncomfortable," Ojeda said.

The other side:

Spirit Airlines never did say how, exactly, the wheelchair wound up damaged. They did pay for repairs to Estevez’s chair.

Spirit told FOX 35 in a statement, "Our vendor has provided a temporary replacement, and we are working with the vendor to arrange for a full repair or replacement. We apologize to our Guests for the experience and have issued a refund for their Spirit flights. We are committed to safely transporting our Guests and their mobility devices and are looking closely at our processes in this area to ensure the level of service being provided consistently meets our standards."

Spirit also said they notified the wheelchair vendors at the Orlando International Airport about this. We’re waiting to hear back from MCO.

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