Frontier Accused of ‘Severe Violation’ After Losing Child’s Medical Device

A family says they have spent days searching for a missing medical device after a Frontier Airlines flight, raising concerns about airline accountability and disability protections.

User Icy-Impression8042 shared on Reddit this week that their daughter’s five-foot custom traction chair, used to treat scoliosis, went missing during a trip from Philadelphia to Dallas.

The chair, along with a bag of spinal weights, was checked ahead of a medical visit in Oklahoma City, but never arrived.

‘It’s maddening’

The original poster (OP) wrote that their wife confirmed with gate agents in Philadelphia that the items had been loaded onto the plane, only to later learn that was not the case.

Over four days, the family said they received conflicting updates about the device’s whereabouts, with airline representatives suggesting it had been sent to multiple cities.

“What is truly amazing about this situation is that we can’t get a single person on the phone who can confirm or deny that they know where this chair is,” the OP wrote.

“I’ve called multiple airports. One woman in the bagging office in Denver was incredibly rude to me. After I explained the situation, she said, ‘If we said it will be on a plane, you’ll just need to be patient and wait for it’.

“I asked her for her name and she refused to give it to me. It’s maddening.”

The situation escalated when the OP said they received contradictory explanations within hours.

“This is just amazing. I got off the phone with a bagging agent in Philly. She told me that it had been put on a plane to Charlotte, to then go on to Dallas.

“I called Dallas, she told me that it was never put on a plane but instead Philly had FedEx’d it to Oklahoma City,” they wrote.

The family has since filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), citing what they described as a violation of the Air Carrier Access Act, which protects passengers with disabilities.

Official Policies

Frontier Airlines’ own policies state that passengers should act quickly when baggage is delayed.

“If your bag is delayed, please report it to a Frontier representative at the airport as soon as possible so we can begin tracking and recovery,” according to Frontier’s baggage policy page.

Federal guidance outlines what happens when complaints are escalated.

“DOT requires airlines to acknowledge consumer complaints within 30 days of receiving them and to send consumers written responses addressing these complaints within 60 days,” according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.