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Wheelchairs and Airlines
By mobilitytiger | July 11, 2008
Over two million Americans use wheelchairs. There are many different kinds of wheelchairs and electric power wheelchairs allow a tremendous amount of freedom and mobility. Many public places also offer wheelchairs to their patrons, but the process does not always work like intended.
All airports offer manual wheelchairs for people traveling and using the facilities. As part of the 21 year old Air Carrier Access Act, they are obligated to provide prompt free curbside and cabin wheelchair assistance. However, recent reports have shown that they are sorely lacking in this area.
Over 30,000 fliers who are disabled have filed complaints about the way they are treated. More than half of these complaints are filed by people in wheelchairs. Around 1 out of every 100,000 passengers files a complaint about the wheelchair service they received.
While some measures are being taken to fix this problem, they are in many ways inadequate or unacceptable. The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport intends to offer a service that people in wheelchairs must pay for in order to receive proper consideration. After paying for this premium service the person will be met at the gate with a wheelchair.
All air industry heads are not taking this type of stance though and some are instead focusing on providing better training for their staff. For instance Alaska airlines introduced a training program in 2003 that is geared at ensuring that their staff knows how to properly lift and move an immobile passenger and should be commended for focusing on the real problem, instead of turning it into a way to make money.
Topics: electric wheelchairs |