Marissa Bode is not backing down following a troublesome experience on her recent flight.
The Wicked actress and disability advocate took to her TikTok video on Apr. 23 to slam Southern Airways for denying her access to the plane as she is a wheelchair user. She began:
“I was denied boarding a flight because I’m disabled.”
The 25-year-old rising star lamented the experience, saying she hoped the incident was untrue or just a “clickbait,” but it unfortunately did happen.
According to Marissa Bode, she was en route to a scheduled appointment in a small town in Pennsylvania. She explained that her first flight was with United, describing the four-hour flight as filled with rowdy teenagers.
“Naturally, I was looking forward to clunking out on my second connecting flight. My first flight was with United.”
Marissa Bode narrates “strange” boarding pass situation before Southern Airways denied her to board the plane
Marissa Bode also explained that, as she was en route to a very small town, Southern Airways was the closest for her to get to her destination. But upon reaching the airlines, she noticed the “strange” situation.
When she approached the gate to ask for assistance in locating her boarding pass, the actress alleged that she was refused to board the plane.
“The two people at the gate look at me, and they are like, ‘Can you stand?’ and I said ‘No.’ And they said, ‘I’m sorry, but because of that, we’re going to have to deny you boarding.'”
Marissa Bode continued:
“They proceeded to tell me, ‘All the planes within this airline have stairs to get on the plane.’ Wild. Never heard of that before. To which I said, ‘I’ve never heard of that before. You’re telling me, none of the people who have flown on your plane before are disabled?’ To which they said, ‘No.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, even the elderly have a hard time getting up those stairs.'”
The actress further expressed her frustration over the “blatant seggregation.”
“So why are we once again waiting around for a disabled person to be present, to even think about changing things or accommodating things, and even then I know they’re not gonna do it. And that’s exactly what I said to him. I was like, ‘Disabled people are not an afterthought.'”
The staff then reasoned that the weight of her wheelchair was the issue, on top of her luggage. But Marissa Bode wasn’t having any of it.
“My chair is 35 pounds. I am heavier than my chair. My chair is probably less than other people’s luggage, which is exactly what I told him. And then when he realized what he said was b*******, he started fumbling.”
The Wicked: For Good star ended up having to wait another hour in between her flights to get her chair back, explaining that the airline staff failed to put a wheelchair tag on it. She added that her chair was given to another passenger.
“What is so frustrating to me about all of this is that it’s always them saying, ‘Oh, this was just a miscommunication.’ It’s so frustrating because it is more than just bad miscommunication. These are our lives. This is our entire existence, you’re talking about. My wheelchair is my freedom.”
Meanwhile, Marissa Bode also ranted that her page has become a series of her awful experiences flying. Nonetheless, she said she won’t stop speaking up for her “disabled peers.”
Edited by Gladys Altamarino