It almost feels as though every time I travel, I’m living Groundhog Day.
There are a few major challenges that I’d like to address. The first is that every major airline contracts with a third-party company to handle ground transportation (folks that help individuals with disabilities inside the airplane & around the airport.) Very occasionally I get folks who are semi-knowledgeable & really great at taking direction on how I need to be moved. More often than not though, and it happened on my most recent trip to Denver… The several men trying to lift me in and out of chairs did not speak English. This is very challenging when you’re trying to give directions.
The other major issue that stands out in my mind is the baggage handlers who are responsible for putting the wheelchairs on the plane. I really want to stress that most of them do the best they can b/c many of them are not trained properly and they also have to get luggage out fast!
Most domestic flights in the US usually are generally Boeing 737 planes or smaller. This is problematic b/c the aft cargo door opens to 35”. Generally, power wheelchairs are higher than this. Even if you break your wheelchair down and take the backrest off as I do… The doors open inwards which makes the clearance even lower. Why is this problematic? Well, b/c you have to slightly tip the wheelchair in manual mode to roll it in, but you CANNOT PUT IT ON ITS SIDE.
Most folks do this b/c they don’t take the time to ask the passenger what is the best way to move the chair and get it out. I happen know the answer and when I am flying to a destination I always get to meet with the chief operations director to guide them. The problem is when we land, even when I give the captain directions to please tell them not to move my chair before they take it out of the plane, this usually doesn’t happen. So, the guys on the other end are left wondering how the heck to get this wheelchair out. At the end of the video, you will see 2 photos of these challenges.
Oh, did you know animals have more rights on planes than people with disabilities?
I will give credit to United and that their corporate office did call me the next day and are working in an expedited fashion to resolve this. It’s not really altruistic b/c it’s generally cheaper to pay for a handful of broken $30K wheelchairs than put a robust training program in place for their staff. It behooves them to pay attention to this b/c any press on this issue is bad news for them.
I have another chair, but many do no not. Thousands of us are constantly trying to bring awareness of this issue and implore airlines to work directly with us.