Wheelchair Passenger Suing American Airlines After Being Left Alone Overnight

A St. Croix woman has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming she was abandoned at her gate in Miami, which resulted in her missing a flight and having to spend the night alone at the airport.

Gloryanna Samuel and her representation filed the suit against American and regional partner Envoy Air last Friday. In the claim, she accuses the companies of negligence and seeks damages to cover "past and future medical expenses, disability, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life."

Samuel's lawsuit stems from April incident

Samuel says she suffers from multiple medical conditions that require the use of a wheelchair when traveling. Back in April, she booked a trip from St. Croix to Tampa, Florida with a stopover in Miami and requested wheelchair assistance throughout the journey.

Samuel landed at Miami International Airport without incident, and says her wheelchair attendant was initially helpful, but later abandoned her at the gate for her connecting flight to Tampa.

As a result, she missed the flight and had to rebook for the following morning. Samuel then says she was not offered a hotel room, even upon request, and was instead assigned to a "cold public room” inside the airport.

Samuel had to sleep in her chair inside the room overnight, which she alleges led to swelling in her feet and eyes, left‑arm pain from propping her head up and elevated blood pressure, a condition she says is "particularly dangerous" because of her pre-existing conditions.

What's next?

View From The Wing's Gary Leff writes that assisted passengers are forbidden from being left unattended in a wheelchair for longer than 30 minutes, which could be an issue for American in this case.

"American doesn’t have a duty to provide a hotel. There’s nothing in Part 382 requiring it for a missed connection or other assistance failure. The breach here is abandonment at the gate – lack of hotel is just bad optics," Leff said.

"If discovery shows she was left unattended beyond 30 minutes, and missed the connection as a result, then she is likely to succeed demonstrating breach of the airline’s duties."

However, it might be tough to prove that the abandonment caused a lasting and permanent injury, given Samuel's preexisting issues, which could complicate her case.