Boeing MEL: 1 in 550!! That'd be the properly disabled pax; not the people that can't be asked to walk. EK average about 7 wheelies per flight. Almost all are taken by passengers travelling to or from destinations on the sub-continent.
I don't think anyone has any problem with the disabled or infirm using a wheelie to get through the airport. However, it starts to erk one a little when after a 8 hour flight you sit around waiting for the wheelies to arrive with a perfectly healthy, fit looking passenger. After about 15 minutes or so it is amazing how often the Lazarus effect bites and they spring up grasping the heavy duty free bag and almost sprint for their next gate.
If you have a flight from the far east the pax almost inevitably walk off very quickly in an orderly fashion and you almost have to force help upon some very frail looking pax.
I am not trying to be discriminatory in anyway and I am not a bigot but I am stating the picture that I see on every flight. Frustrating as it is, it doesn't excuse O'Leary from making some extra cash out of the disabled.
Ghost
