From Duty-Free to Duty-Denied: Kenya Airways and Expedia’s War on the Disabled
What began as a straightforward booking through Expedia (Booking ACIZUN, Kenya Airways Flight KQ 3/414) metastasized into a case study in corporate malpractice. The request was not discretionary: under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), 14 CFR §382.121, assistive/adaptive devices must be carried free of charge, outside baggage limits. This is not a courtesy—it is binding federal law. Yet both Kenya Airways and Expedia chose defiance over compliance, even when the passenger was an award‑winning volunteer emergency medical technician “totally and permanently” injured in the line of duty at Ground Zero on 9/11. The rot began at the top. Kenya Airways’ Chief Commercial & Customer Officer, Mr. Julius Thairu, and his executive suite were presented with irrefutable documentation: a Certificate of Disability and the precise legal citation. Their response was not enforcement of the law but calculated indifference. By acknowledging the breach yet refusing resolution, Kenya Airways’ leadershi...