When Debi Coleman saw her mobility scooter on the baggage carousel in Orlando on March 5, she knew something was wrong.
For starters, the scooter should have been returned to her at the specialty baggage counter or the oversized luggage claim instead.
Once Coleman realized her mobility device had been seriously damaged on her trip from Los Angeles, she got stuck in a vortex of airline customer service dead ends while trying to get it repaired.
“I’ve talked to Orlando, I talked to their main office in Atlanta, I’ve asked for supervisors. I’ve always been told someone would call me back and they don’t,” Coleman told USA TODAY. “It’s been over 11 times now that I’ve contacted someone. I was told every time that we’re escalating this to your claims manager and every time I was told someone would call me back in 24-72 hours, and so far, no one has called.”
Coleman, 65, said there was damage to various parts of her scooter when she received it, and the inside of its transport case was wet when it arrived at her final destination of Orlando.
The special education teacher was on the trip for some meetings and to visit Disney World. Coleman said that she was given a rental scooter while she was away.
When she returned home to Los Angeles, however, Coleman was told her complaint against Delta Air Lines had been closed and that she would not be compensated for the repairs, or for further loaner expenses.
“When I called my repair person here to confirm that it arrived they told me the claim had been denied and it was closed,” she said.
Delta’s Response
Delta Air Lines acknowledged the initial confusion and said that its initial investigation was unable to prove that the scooter had been damaged while the airline was handling it.
After being contacted by USA TODAY, Delta ultimately covered repairs for the scooter.
“We sincerely apologize for the delay in repairs to Ms. Coleman’s scooter. Her experience did not meet our standard of care, which is why we expedited and completed the repairs and promptly contacted her to apologize,” Delta said in a statement.
For Coleman, who has rheumatoid arthritis and spinal stenosis and relies on her scooter to comfortably get around, the frustration of being brushed off for more than a month was almost as bad as the damage itself.
“That was really poor, poor customer service. The feeling that I was constantly being ignored needs to change,” she said. “At least if they’re going to deny it, they need to be able to communicate that to me and not just leave me hanging for so long and give me nothing.”
On April 10, more than a month after it was first damaged, Coleman was able to confirm that her scooter had been repaired, but she said airlines need to be more accountable.
“It’s bad enough for me, but what people who have even more severe disabilities must go through, and being a special education teacher makes me especially sensitive to that. I keep thinking, how can this happen?” she said.
How Common Is Airline Wheelchair Damage?
U.S. airlines actually showed significant improvement in 2025 compared to 2024 in terms of wheelchair damage rates, but there’s still work to be done.
According to the Department of Transportation, the 10 largest U.S. airlines and their subsidiaries carried 907,259 wheelchairs and other mobility devices in 2025, and the DOT received 9,910 reports of mishandling — a rate of 1.09%. For comparison, carriers mishandled 1.26% of the mobility devices they transported in 2024.
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