The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 requires airlines to provide assistance to passengers with disabilities in boarding and deplaning aircraft, including the use of wheelchairs, ramps, mechanical lifts or service personnel where needed.  U.S. Department of Transportation rules also require carriers to respond within 30 days to written complaints about their treatment of disabled passengers, and to specifically address the issues raised in the complaint.  In addition, airlines must submit annual reports to the Department on disability-related complaints from passengers, noting the type of disability and nature of the complaint.

An investigation by the Department of Transportation's Aviation Enforcement Office of disability complaints filed with AirTran and DOT revealed a number of violations of the requirement for boarding assistance.  In addition, the carrier's complaint files showed that it frequently did not provide an adequate written response to complaints from passengers.  AirTran also failed to properly categorize disability complaints in reports filed with the Department, the Aviation Enforcement Office found.

Of the $500,000 penalty, up to $60,000 may be used to establish a council to help the carrier comply with federal disability rules and hire a manager for disability accommodations.  Up to $140,000 may be used to develop and employ an automated wheelchair tracking system at AirTran's major hub airports within one year that will generate real-time reports of the carrier's wheelchair assistance performance.

The consent order is available on the Internet at www.regulations.gov , docket DOT-OST-2010-0005.

France's Transport Minister, Dominique Bussereau, has called for an inquiry into allegations that low-cost airline Easyjet barred disabled passengers from flying unaccompanied.

He ordered the move after reports that Easyjet had refused to fly disabled passengers on safety grounds.

They were told they must be accompanied by another passenger in order to board the plane.

Easyjet said they were simply complying with safety regulations.

"European safety regulations require that all passengers are able to evacuate an aircraft within 90 seconds and therefore we require that some passengers with reduced mobility have a travel companion," a spokesman for the company said.

It seems the prison metaphor is popular on this site recently ( Under House Arrest?). Here's taking it to the skies as "Not one North American or European airline made the Skytrax list of the world's 10 best airlines":

Stepping on an airplane today -- especially those run by the U.S. airlines -- can seem more like a prison sentence than the start of a great journey. But hop on board an Asian or Middle Eastern airline and you are treated like royalty. Seats are larger, the food actually tastes good and the service is attentive.

Move up to first class and flight attendants are making passengers' beds, behind the doors of their private suites, with the finest linens. Pajamas are handed out along with skin care products from luxury brands like Bvlgari. And when passengers wake on one Middle East airline they can actually take a shower at 40,000 feet, ensuring they'll arrive fresh.

This stark difference in travel is highlighted in an annual ranking of the top airlines by Skytrax, a British airline consulting and research firm. Not one North American or European airline made the Skytrax list of the world's 10 best airlines.

From the Athens International Airport:

At Athens International Airport we aim to continuously upgrade the offered services, taking always into consideration your needs and expectations. Within this context, we are currently implementing an electronic survey related to the evaluation of our website

 

You are kindly invited to participate in this survey by sharing

 

• Navigation
• Content
• Look & Feel 

Looking forward to receiving your replies until Friday, June 4th 2010

 

AIA's website "E-valuation"_ English version

Low on most people's list of leisure enjoyments is being locked out of one's home, trapped in an elevator, or buried alive. So long as commercial aircraft and airports do not adopt Universal Design there will be stories like the following:

United Airlines has apologized to a blind woman from Vancouver Island who was abandoned on an empty plane in Chicago.

Jessica Cabot of Courtenay, B.C., made headlines this week after she went public about being forgotten in an empty United Airlines plane on an April 7 stopover in Chicago.

The 18-year-old was waiting for flight attendants to escort her to a connecting flight to Florida when she heard the plane door seal shut. Ten minutes later two maintenance staff happened to find her on an unscheduled check of the plane.

She panicked in the plane, calling for help.

After a series of complaints, Cabot received a $250 airline voucher and the promise of an apology. Five weeks after her flight and a series of news stories later, she finally got one.

Congratulations to Brazilian researcher Rio de Janeiro, Rafael Teixeira de Castro!

Program announcement from Accessible World:
 
Wednesday May 12th: 8 pm EDT: You and Your Guide Dog hosted by Robert and Ruth Ann Acosta.  The topic for this month is: "Why I chose to travel with a guide dog."

Visit the Guide Dog Users Room at:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs2ccabdfcfd3a
 
Accessible World programs are archived on either www.accessibleworld.org or at www.radiooutofthepast.org
 
If you have any questions concerning the Accessible World Calendar, please contact Robert Acosta at the following e-mail address: Bob Acosta boacosta@pacbell.net

Let's make it a quiz:

You are a paid flight attendant for United Airlines, and a young disabled woman is brought to your airplane in a wheelchair (another part of her story). Do you:

1) Appreciate her business, take her at her word about her disability, and help her graciously when she asks for help putting her baggage in the overhead bin?

2) Distrust her because she doesn't "look disabled," but decide that you are, after all, an "attendant" and you might as well pretend to take her at her word?

3) Flatly refuse to help her with her luggage and tell her a passenger will probably help her sooner or later?

A disabled woman is upset she could not take public transport between Clyde and Dunedin last Friday because bus companies refused to take her motorised wheelchair.

Bus companies' three main reasons were driver safety lifting the wheelchair, space restrictions, and the potential hazard of the batteries, Wellington woman Trish Harris said.

"If that's what you need, then perhaps in the future, you should make other travel arrangements."

Forwarded by Sandra Rhodda of Access Tourism New Zealand:

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) gave its verdict on how well airports had implemented new European Union laws - introduced in 2008 - that make it the responsibility of airports to provide assistance to disabled travellers and passengers with reduced mobility.

Image via Wikipedia

 
The CAA has urged travel companies to improve the provision and accessibility of information, and to make it easier for disabled passengers to pre-book assistance.

The number of routes available for passengers travelling with assistance dogs should also be increased, according to the report, while better signage and information at airports is also required. It also called for greater awareness among airport staff of the range of impairments covered by the legislation.

"This review is a further step in ensuring that disabled people and people with reduced mobility receive equal treatment while travelling by air," said Andrew Haines, the chief executive of the CAA.

Image via Wikipedia

A 38-year-old paraplegic woman was ordered off an EasyJet flight last Sunday because she was unaccompanied.

Marie-Patricia Hoarau was able to check in, proceed through departure and finally board the aircraft at a Paris airport before she was told she could not remain on the aircraft.

Ms Hoarau, who lives in Fréjus in south-east France, had made the flight to Paris from Nice without any incident. It was only on the return trip that she was told she could not travel.

http://www.france24.com/en/20100327-woman-wheelchair-ejected-easyjet-flight-france-halde

Related:

http://blog.wheelmap.org/2010/03/frau-im-rollstuhl-von-easyjet-flug-ausgeschlossen/

Image by Stéphane Giner via Flickr

When I arrived at Toulouse Airport, to get my flight back. I was greeted by the lady on the check in desk. Saying sorry I don't think Easy Jet allows disabled on their own. Which I replied you know your breaking the law.

She then replied. "I don't work for Easy Jet. But I know your right. I see what I can do.

When she came back and said they have refused me on the grounds that I'm disabled travelling alone, I made my own way back to where I came from. Then e-mail went backwards and forward. In email they said if I flew back with air France they would refund my money.

How can they say my disability is serveer without asking me any question of what I am capable of..?

Image via CrunchBase

Reposting Expedia's PR:

Travelers in the U.S. can now visit Expedia.com to search for lodgings in the U.S. that offer accommodations including accessibility equipment for the deaf, accessible bathrooms, accessible paths of travel, Braille or raised signage, in-room accessibility, a roll-in shower and more.

Once a traveler finds suitable accommodations, they can request one or more of the specific accessibility features on Expedia.com's online Reservation Page. The Expedia.com Customer Service team will review the request and contact the hotel to ensure that the specific traveler requests are met, and will contact the traveler directly to confirm the reservation or to offer to locate a similar room at an equivalent rate at another hotel.

Expedia.com's call center has fielded approximately 500 requests per week utilizing this functionality since its initial rollout in August of 2009.  Expedia.com offers more than 15,000 hotels that publish accessibility options.

"We are thrilled to offer this new functionality to our travelers," said John Morrey, vice president, Expedia.com. "It was a much-needed part of the online travel booking process and we are proud to be able to meet the needs of disabled travelers who require accessible accommodations."

Source:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/expediacom-launches-new-accessibility-search-tools-for-disabled-travelers-84479647.html