Marissa Bode has claimed she was barred from boarding a flight because she uses a wheelchair.
Marissa Bode has alleged she was banned from boarding a flight
The 25-year-old actress – who is best known for her role as Nessarose Thropp in the Wicked movies – has urged other disabled passengers not to fly with Southern Airways after she had a very disappointing experience when attempting to travel to a speaking engagement in a “very small town” in Pennsylvania.
She said in a TikTok video shared on Thursday (23.04.26): “I was denied boarding a flight because I was disabled. I wish that were clickbait [and] I wish that were false, but that is what happened.
“As long as airlines are s***y, I’m going to continue talking about it.
“For my other disabled peers out there, do not fly Southern Airways. I had never heard of Southern Airways Airlines before. It’s extremely, extremely small and they think, because they are so small, that disabled passengers couldn’t possibly fly with them.
“Picture this: I have a speaking engagement in a very small town in Pennsylvania. My first flight was with United.
“I was very sleep-deprived, so naturally, I was looking forward to clonking out on my second connecting flight.
“Because I was traveling with United first and then transferring over to Southern for my second flight, the boarding pass situation was strange.
“I just didn’t see it on my ticket or within my phone [via] the United app. I just couldn’t find it virtually. I got to the gate, I was like, ‘Hey, can you help me locate my boarding pass?’”
Marissa alleged two agents on the gate thenlooked at her and asked if she “could stand”.
She continued: “I said, ‘No,’ and they said, ‘I’m sorry, but because of that, we’re going to have to deny you boarding.’ “
The actress was stunned when she was allegedly told her wheelchair was too heavy to store on the small plane.
She continued: “They proceeded to tell me [that] all the planes within this airline have stairs to get on the plane. … To which, I said, ‘I’ve never heard that before. You’re telling me none of the people that have flown on your plane before are disabled?’
“They said, ‘No, even the elderly have a hard time getting up those stairs.’
“Disabled people are not an afterthought. Knowing that disabled people exist, which y’all clearly often forget, do you choose not to update your planes? I [told the gate agents], ‘This is blatant segregation.’”
Southern Airways are “investigating” what happened and have pledged to “work” to address Marissa’s concerns.
A spokesperson said in a statement: “Marissa Bode’s experience is understandably upsetting, and does not reflect the standard to which we hold ourselves.
“We are investigating the incident, and will take all appropriate action, including making any necessary improvements to our processes and training. We have reached out to Ms. Bode to offer support and will work to address her concerns.”
