How air travel is plane hell for the disabled

IMAGINE having to urinate in a bottle in your seat or having nothing to drink for nearly 24 hours, all because you can't access the toilets during a flight.

This is the unfortunate reality for many air travellers with disabilities, who face "hurt and humiliation" during flights, according to a survey by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign in the UK.

 

Kurt Fearnley is among disabled passenger who've encountered problems with airlines. Picture: Supplied

According to the report, 90 per cent of wheelchair users are unable to access airline toilets and therefore are forced to avoid drinking before and during flights. They also face the risk of physical injury, with the majority (60 per cent) of passengers surveyed saying they felt unsafe when being transferred from a wheelchair to an airline seat, while another 60 per cent said their wheelchairs have been damaged. The problems begin before they even step foot on the plane, with half of disabled passengers encountering issues with booking a ticket.

Muscular Dystrophy Campaign spokeswoman Tnayi Vyas said it’s time for airlines to “clean up their act”. "The airline industry needs to catch up with other mainstream modes of transport in order to cater for disabled passengers,” Ms Vyas said. “If we can fly a man to the moon, we can put a wheelchair-accessible toilet on an aeroplane. “Our investigation has found that the process of travelling by air is for many a source of anxiety and embarrassment, regularly leading to holidays being ruined, equipment being damaged and disabled people being put off flying for good. “This report should be a wake-up call on the need to drastically overhaul services, in order to meet disabled customers’ basic needs. It is time for disabled customer to be able to trust airlines and feel confident when flying.”

There have been high-profile cases over recent years of disabled travellers suffering on flights. In August, a wheelchair-bound woman lost her appeal against Jetstar’s policy of allowing a maximum of two wheelchair passengers to fly on its smaller planes. Sheila King claimed the airline unlawfully discriminated against her by refusing to allow her to fly, but a judge found the airline had a defence of “unjustifiable hardship.” In 2009, Australian Paralympic champion Kurt Fearnley was forced to drag himself across the floor of Brisbane Airport and onto the plane after Jetstar staff made him check his specially adapted wheelchair into the hold.

Leah Hobson from Australian Federation of Disability Organisations said the new survey echoes a lot of the experiences disabled travellers have in Australia. “Disabled passengers face an array of challenges in terms of accessing air travel,” Ms Hobson said. “There’s a lack of physical access, and the need to pay for a carer to come along on a flight or pay for an extra seat to have an oxygen tank. “There are also concerns about equipment and wheelchair damage, as well as the limits placed on the number of people who need assistance on a flight.”

Other issues include the “longer and more difficult” booking process, lack of access to appropriate assistance with passengers being given the wrong type of wheelchair or being taken off the flight last in the case of an emergency. She called on governments to make it easier for people with disabilities to take complaints to court. "The Australian Human Rights Commission needs to be given the power to take systemic issues - ones like this which affect a number of people with disability every year - to the Federal Court on behalf of people with disability in general," she said.

"The system at the moment requires individuals to come forward, and individual complaints might not lead to resolutions which affect everyone." Ms Hobson also said airlines need to be more proactive in implementing change.

News.com.au

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