Fixing this mess
To start of this article, I need to confess two things. I do not and have not worked with the airlines, airport or aviation industry. I also hate flying and have not flown in the last few years (The last time has for medical "tourism" purposes).
I am not going to talk about United's poor treatment of a flyer who was carried off the plane or the giant rabbit dying en route to its new owner. All those things have been talked to death and I will not be able to add anything new.
I am writing about flying when you are disabled. If you are disabled and you need to fly commercially, you may find that you will be in for a shock. Now let's assume you are not able to walk and you purchased a ticket to fly to another country (Eg. Bucket list, last goodbye, medical "tourism", etc), you may be in for a shock if you flew commercially.
I am assuming the best case possible for you outside of the airline industry. Assume you have the best family/caretaker/host who will get you safely to the airport and clear most of the paperwork for you when you leave or arrive. I am also assuming that you have no urgent medical condition. (Eg. You breathe, are sentient, literate, capable of verbal communications in well-known languages or at least English and can eat and drink without difficulty.) Your caretakers have also highlighted your disability to the airline so they are aware of your disability (Yes, there are some people who spring their disability as a surprise and then are upset when the airline is not able to adapt. If you have any special request, it is advisable to check with the airline first before buying the ticket. Not that it is a foolproof plan as I will cover it later in the article).
Most airlines have a service that an assistant will wheel you from the transit location to the plane and then when you arrive, wheel you off the plane out of the transit area. Problem is that the assistant is not medically trained so if they need skills/assistance to get you on or off the wheelchair, they could having some difficulty. Another issue is that we often assume that the assistant will be strong enough to support the passenger. In some cases, the passenger will be heavier than what some normal people can lift. All these realities are seldom considered by the ticketing agent whose sole purpose is to sell a ticket. As long as they ensure that an assistant with a wheelchair is present, everything is above board.
Some people will counter that they have their special scooter or motorised wheelchair. Which often has to be check in so you will still need assistance (I hope you understand that there is no space to store the mobility device onboard the plane safely.). I have not so far talked about waste discharging while flying (Adult diapers, anyone?).
If you are fortunate, there are doctors/nurses/caregivers on board who will gladly give a hand. If you are unlucky, your fellow passengers are of the belief that flying is a privilege of the healthy and that you are an eyesore or a burden.
Which leaves you in the tender mercies of the flight crew. To be fair to the flight crew, they have to take care of the other passengers as well. You will not be thrown out of the plane mid-flight but you are not likely to get optimum care. Most flight attendants are not part time caregivers or have the temperament to be caregiver another short notice (Yes, some ticketing agent do not bother to inform the relevant flight crew as to the needs of the passengers.).
Some more wealthy caretakers will offer a better solution. They will fly with you. They will fly economy while you will fly first-class. They will take care of you while you are onboard the flight. Some airlines/aircrew may agree to this arrangement but it is informal so open to dispute. That could be empty seats in first class but they are not likely to be given to the caretaker.
So who is to be blamed for this mess? If you go after the flight crew, you will find that the flight crew are usually not given enough resources to handle this type of issues. Even if they go out of their way to make an exception, the flight crew will find that this incident will be open to criticism. Passengers will claim that there was an exception given and it should thus be standard practise. Passengers expectation will be raised and they will start to expect more from the flight crew.
If you go after the ticketing agents for selling the ticket, you will find that they are under pressure to sell the ticket as their management will claim that they are able to take care of exceptional passengers. If you go to the managers, they will claim that processes are put in place to take care of such contingencies. Aviation authorities to step in?
This is one of those cases where it requires many people to work together. The airline industries will never know the needs of their disabled passengers. The disabled communities will need to create a reasonable guideline to follow. Public education will be given to all disabled passengers and/or their caregivers. Until all parties are serious in wanting to fix this problem, it will not be going away anytime soon.
I am not going to talk about United's poor treatment of a flyer who was carried off the plane or the giant rabbit dying en route to its new owner. All those things have been talked to death and I will not be able to add anything new.
I am writing about flying when you are disabled. If you are disabled and you need to fly commercially, you may find that you will be in for a shock. Now let's assume you are not able to walk and you purchased a ticket to fly to another country (Eg. Bucket list, last goodbye, medical "tourism", etc), you may be in for a shock if you flew commercially.
I am assuming the best case possible for you outside of the airline industry. Assume you have the best family/caretaker/host who will get you safely to the airport and clear most of the paperwork for you when you leave or arrive. I am also assuming that you have no urgent medical condition. (Eg. You breathe, are sentient, literate, capable of verbal communications in well-known languages or at least English and can eat and drink without difficulty.) Your caretakers have also highlighted your disability to the airline so they are aware of your disability (Yes, there are some people who spring their disability as a surprise and then are upset when the airline is not able to adapt. If you have any special request, it is advisable to check with the airline first before buying the ticket. Not that it is a foolproof plan as I will cover it later in the article).
Most airlines have a service that an assistant will wheel you from the transit location to the plane and then when you arrive, wheel you off the plane out of the transit area. Problem is that the assistant is not medically trained so if they need skills/assistance to get you on or off the wheelchair, they could having some difficulty. Another issue is that we often assume that the assistant will be strong enough to support the passenger. In some cases, the passenger will be heavier than what some normal people can lift. All these realities are seldom considered by the ticketing agent whose sole purpose is to sell a ticket. As long as they ensure that an assistant with a wheelchair is present, everything is above board.
Some people will counter that they have their special scooter or motorised wheelchair. Which often has to be check in so you will still need assistance (I hope you understand that there is no space to store the mobility device onboard the plane safely.). I have not so far talked about waste discharging while flying (Adult diapers, anyone?).
If you are fortunate, there are doctors/nurses/caregivers on board who will gladly give a hand. If you are unlucky, your fellow passengers are of the belief that flying is a privilege of the healthy and that you are an eyesore or a burden.
Which leaves you in the tender mercies of the flight crew. To be fair to the flight crew, they have to take care of the other passengers as well. You will not be thrown out of the plane mid-flight but you are not likely to get optimum care. Most flight attendants are not part time caregivers or have the temperament to be caregiver another short notice (Yes, some ticketing agent do not bother to inform the relevant flight crew as to the needs of the passengers.).
Some more wealthy caretakers will offer a better solution. They will fly with you. They will fly economy while you will fly first-class. They will take care of you while you are onboard the flight. Some airlines/aircrew may agree to this arrangement but it is informal so open to dispute. That could be empty seats in first class but they are not likely to be given to the caretaker.
So who is to be blamed for this mess? If you go after the flight crew, you will find that the flight crew are usually not given enough resources to handle this type of issues. Even if they go out of their way to make an exception, the flight crew will find that this incident will be open to criticism. Passengers will claim that there was an exception given and it should thus be standard practise. Passengers expectation will be raised and they will start to expect more from the flight crew.
If you go after the ticketing agents for selling the ticket, you will find that they are under pressure to sell the ticket as their management will claim that they are able to take care of exceptional passengers. If you go to the managers, they will claim that processes are put in place to take care of such contingencies. Aviation authorities to step in?
This is one of those cases where it requires many people to work together. The airline industries will never know the needs of their disabled passengers. The disabled communities will need to create a reasonable guideline to follow. Public education will be given to all disabled passengers and/or their caregivers. Until all parties are serious in wanting to fix this problem, it will not be going away anytime soon.
Comments
Post a Comment