New Update 4:02 p.m.: At 4 p.m. ET Air Canada released the following statement:
"We are deeply sorry that Tanner's personal electric wheelchair arrived damaged at La Guardia airport, and we are investigating this. Despite several attempts to replace it temporarily throughout the day yesterday, we know that the only one that could do the job was Tanner's own. We found an all-night repair service in New York, and are pleased to report that it has been repaired and delivered in person by one of our managers to Tanner this afternoon.
" We know Tanner's Number One personal wish is to go to Disney World, so we'll be making that happen for him and his cousins. It goes without saying, after all the efforts by so many of us at Air Canada to make this right over the past 24 hours, including numerous attempts to reach the family by phone, email and twitter, we are very disappointed with how this has transpired. We will be looking at how this happened in the first place and how we can improve in the future. The main thing right now is that Tanner has his own wheelchair back in working order and we wish him all the success in his #TutusForTanner tweet-a-thon."
- Update from Globe and Mail reporter Caroline Alphonso (full story here).
Update 3:24 p.m.: Tanner has his chair back. Air Canada fixed the chair and returned it to the family hotel room in New York just after lunch time. In addition to returning his chair, his aunt said the company has also promised to fulfill one of his wishes: Going to a Disney theme park. - Update from Globe and Mail reporter Caroline Alphonso.
Update 12:43 p.m.: Amber interviews Catherine Connors. Listen to the audio interview here. Also update Tanner's correct age, which is 10, not 8.
Update 10:51 a.m.: Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick has replied to an e-mail query asking for comment on the incident. Here’s his full reply:
“Regrettably Tanner's electric chair arrived in damaged condition at La Guardia airport, we are sorry about this and are investigating. Our manager at the airport immediately sent the broken chair, which is custom made, out for repairs. We also supplied a manual wheelchair and later in the evening an electric wheelchair for his use in the interim. Once we learned the replacement chair was inadequate we got in contact with the family to see what we could do for them. Because the chair is custom-made it is difficult to get it repaired or replaced quickly but we are doing all we can.”
There is a common saying among fliers in this country that “Air Canada is not happy until you're not happy.” While we might chuckle at the phrase, the airline's reputation took a turn for the worse online Wednesday night when they let down a dying little boy.
The 10-year-old's name is Tanner Bawn. He is fighting muscular dystrophy. This week a group of people, including the boy's aunt and social media star Scott Stratten, organized a Tweet-a-Thon auction to help Tanner live out his final wishes. In just 30 hours the #TutusForTanner Twitter event helped to raise more than $25,000. Wednesday, Tanner travelled with his aunt, Catherine Connors, to New York to tour through Central Park on Friday with a team of tutu-wearing bloggers and friends (just one of his final wishes).
When they arrived at La Guardia airport they discovered that Tanner's wheelchair had been broken beyond repair. According to Connors (@herbadmother on Twitter), the airline promised an immediate loaner for him (he is immobile without it) but when the travellers called the airline from the hotel Wednesday night they were told that Air Canada couldn't do anything about the chair until Monday.
Monday? As Catherine explains, Tanner was left stuck in a bed for hours in New York with no hope of getting back his $15,000 chair or a replacement. While Twitter friends spread the news about Air Canada's face palm, I'm reminded of another social media disaster. When United Airlines broke Dave Carroll's guitar the airline suffered months of embarrassment as web users shared the artist's creative ditty.
As of Thursday morning, there was still little hope for a new chair for Tanner. However, there were hundreds of tweets looking to get the boy a suitable replacement. Based on the messages, there were also clear signs the Twittersphere was determined to help Tanner find a way to see New York the way he deserves, despite Air Canada.
