Fury as airline 'ties up' woman

A shocking image showing a passenger tied up and in tears at the airport has emerged.

Maria Saliagas was travelling with her husband on Delta Airlines when the incident occurred. The couple had landed in Amsterdam on April 1 only to discover that the airline did not have a wheelchair with straps, that she required. Maria has multiple sclerosis.

Instead, the crew allegedly used a dirty airline blanket to tie Maria to the chair, allegedly leaving her bruised and traumatised, news.com.au reports.

Her son Nathan detailed the "inhumane" treatment in a Facebook post.

"The Delta employee thought it would be appropriate to tie my mother with someone else's dirty blanket, in such a way it has left bruise marks on her arms," Nathan wrote.

"When she started crying, she was told to 'shut the f**k up' or she will be 'left there'. This highly inhumane and disgusting treatment by Delta Airlines is unacceptable and a need for change."

"We regret the perception our service has left on these customers," Delta said in a statement to Atlanta's WSB-TV.

"We have reached out to them, not only to resolve their concerns, but also to ensure that their return flight exceeds expectations."

Maria, from Atlanta, travels to Europe every year with her husband, and the tradition has continued despite her MS diagnosis five years ago. She said Delta usually accommodates her by providing a proper wheelchair with straps that help her sit up.

Upon complaining about her treatment, Delta offered them 20,000 free SkyMiles. But the couple instead hope to see a policy change.