This archive report was first published on 29 August 2019.
On Tuesday, Harun M. Hassan, a disabled Kenyan author and rights crusader, was traveling from Nairobi to the United States when he was denied boarding on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
According to Hassan, the airline staff refused to let him board the flight, leaving him stranded at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
"They left me alone and stranded with no options," Hassan wrote on Twitter.
He shared a photo of a female staff member at the check-in counter who declined to listen to his explanation about his ticket.
"Today was denied to travel 2 USA by @flyethiopian bcoz of my wheelchair. The lady in yellow was rude & insensitive. She said no provision for assistance," Hassan tweeted.
Responding to his tweet, Ethiopian Airlines asked Hassan to share his travel details for investigations.
"Dear Harun, Sorry for what happened to you. Please DM your travel detail for further investigation of the case," the airline said.
However, Hassan claims that the airline later apologized and offered to have him fly Business Class, but on the condition that he deletes his tweets.
"@flyethiopian contacted me 4 apologies & offered opportunity of flying a Business Class. However, they requested a pull-down of my Twitter & FB posts," Hassan tweeted on Wednesday.
"I declined. I rather fly Economy with respect than a knee jerk inspired 'comfort'. I'm flying 2day a different airline," he added.
