In 2021, holiday air travel is expected to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reports that 26 million people traveled around the 11-day period surrounding Thanksgiving in 2019, with similar crowds expected this year.
While air travel is hardly an enjoyable experience for anyone, it can be impossible for people with disabilities. Traveling with a disability means a lack of access to basic necessities and the potential for serious injury or worse. Even outside of physical challenges, people with disabilities are at risk of losing their wheelchairs or having them arrive damaged and unusable.
Some advocates have had enough and they are calling on airlines to make travel more accessible.
Accessibility is required by the Air Carrier Access Act
Before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed, there were foundational laws created to protect people with disabilities. One such law was the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), which remains active today. This act applies to all domestic flights in the United States and flights operated by US-based carriers. The European Union has also passed similar legislation.
To help travelers understand their rights, the team at WheelchairTravel summarized a few key aspects of this law. Airlines must provide travelers with disabilities:
- The opportunity to preboard at the gate. This includes boarding before first-class passengers, elite-level passengers, members of the military, passengers with small children, etc.
- Assistance in emplaning and deplaning, including help with flight connections between gates.
- Assistance moving to and from seats, retrieving carry-on items, and in preparation for eating (such as opening packages and identifying food).
- The use of an onboard wheelchair if there is one on the aircraft and assistance in the use of the lavatory.
Additionally, carriers should not leave passengers with disabilities unattended in a ground wheelchair for more than 30 minutes when a passenger is not independently mobile.
The Carrier Access Act is not fully followed
While some aspects of the ACAA are regularly followed (like pre-boarding passengers with disabilities over first-class fliers), there are some parts of the law that are overlooked or ignored. Furthermore, carriers aren’t limited to the ACAA. If they wanted to, they could take extra steps to make their planes more accessible.
For example, most Americans struggle to fit inside an airplane bathroom. They have a difficult time balancing during the flight and using the facilities. Even walking down the aisle to reach the lavatory can be challenging. However, the use of these facilities become impossible for many people with disabilities. How can the flight attendant assist someone if the room is too small for one person? Or if they use a wheelchair? Or if the door opens inward?
Ahead of one of the biggest travel weekends of the year, some activists are calling on airlines to improve their accessibility – while reminding travelers with disabilities about their rights.
"It is unacceptable that 35 years after legislation passed, someone in a wheelchair still can't access a bathroom on an airplane and risks serious injury or death because airline personnel are not properly trained," says Charles Brown, national president of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).
Brown adds that travelers with disabilities experience safety and civil rights issues when they travel. They fly in inhumane circumstances or don’t fly at all.
Injuries and property damage can be life-threatening
For some passengers with disabilities, discomfort on the flight itself is only the first problem that arises with air travel. Airlines continue to treat assistive tools like wheelchairs without care, often damaging them or losing them in transit.
On July 14, 2021, Engracia Figueroa boarded a United Airlines flight home from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles. Figueroa, a disability rights activist, had been attending a march in the nation’s capital. When she arrived, she discovered that her power wheelchair was damaged and contorted.
“It was like my worst nightmare came true,” said Figueroa, president of Communities Actively Living and Free. “My wheelchair is custom made for me and my spinal cord injury. It’s a $30,000 machine that is not easy to replace, and without it, I am now stuck at home.”
Figueroa sought $30,000 for a new wheelchair, and the airline agreed to replace it. However, the replacement process was going to take several months. During that time, Figueroa developed a skin ulcer that became infected and also experienced gastrointestinal issues. On November 3, 2021, Figueroa died because of complications from these injuries created when United Airlines mangled her wheelchair.
The organization Hand in Hand, a group that Figueroa was a member of, tells her story. They report that airlines damage or destroy 29 wheelchairs per day on average – a number that is likely to increase during peak travel periods. The airlines damage more than 15,425 wheelchairs or scooters each year.
Other travelers with disabilities share similar stories
Figueroa’s story is not unique and more people with disabilities are speaking out against how their assistive devices are treated by airlines.
In May 2021, model and wheelchair user Bri Scalesse shared a video of her friend Gabrielle deFiebre crying after she realized that Delta had broken her wheelchair.
“My wheelchair is an extension of my body,” says deFiebre. “It is the way I move through the world. Without it, I would be stuck in bed. I wouldn’t be able to roll around the city, see friends, take the subway or live my life.”
Scalesse herself found her wheelchair broken by the airline in July when she was traveling from Minnesota to New Jersey. The frame was buckled, which meant the brake kept pushing on the wheel. The balance was also off, which meant Scalesse was tilted to one side. It was essentially unusable.
"This happens because our wheelchairs are really treated like luggage, not as an extension of our bodies," says Scalesse. “They're not seen as a part of us, our wheelchairs, and our medical devices aren't seen as a part of us."
Be Prepared This Holiday Travel Season
If you use an assistive device or travel with someone who does, keep the stories of Engracia Figueroa, Gabrielle deFiebre, and Bri Scalesse this holiday season. PVA has created multiple resources for travelers with disabilities and their companions to use. Use their Disability Complaint Reminder Card to report any disability-related incident to the Department of Transportation. You can also use their Airplane Travel Checklist to prepare for your flight.
While these steps are important for people traveling with disabilities, the burden shouldn’t fall on them to fight for their safety or compensation for damaged assistive tools. Know your rights and the rights of the people you care about. Use our Rules and Regulations page to learn about the ADA, ACAA, and other protections owed to travelers.
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