Topic > The difficulties of air travelers with disabilities

Flying is an unpleasant experience for most of us, perhaps staying in the same seat for too long can be tiring and dealing with stopovers can be stressful. In addition to people who panic about flying, we have people with disabilities who have complicated lives for other reasons. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayAlthough going by train, by taxi, even by bus, is something more or less solved and relatively comfortable for those who move in a wheelchair, traveling by plane is still an odyssey for them which in some cases could even be considered torture. There is no part of flying for wheelchair users that can be described as pleasant. Every single phase, from the moment of check-in, to the numerous hours that the flight can take, up to landing, each of these different phases can lead to many more inconveniences than anyone who has never used a wheelchair and travelled, could never imagine. As we can see from Melisa Stuart's article “Air Travelers with Disabilities”, practically anyone who has to travel with their wheelchair usually needs to insure in duplicate: on the web or in the travel agency and on the customer service telephone - they will have the necessary assistance to travel at both airports upon departure and arrival. Why? Because without assistance they wouldn't be able to travel and the protocols are still quite new and not that enforced yet, mistakes are very common, and not only that but they need to make sure they are at the airport at least 2 hours early for the exact same reason. Every airport is different, the protocols are not always the same, so the earlier you get to the airport, the less chance you have of missing your flight. It seems that once wheelchair users are ready to check in, they are ready for the rest of the flight, but the nightmare is just beginning. Your wheelchair is still considered luggage, so the batteries must be gel (or dry) and not acidic (or wet). Because, if they are the second type, they won't let you take it with you. Also, you will have to explain to them how to disconnect them, since if they are not disconnected, the entire plane can become a fireball and collapse. Depending on the chair, the disconnection can take different forms: from disconnecting a simple connector to having to disassemble the half chair with the toolbox. It is important to keep in mind that everything that is dismantled in this "beautiful" phase must be reassembled at its destination, thus doubling the time and effort. Regardless of how boring this all is, as exemplified in Autumn Gran's article “ Flying Friendly Skies with a Disability,” one of the keys to better understanding what disabled people face when flying “is that my chair doesn't it's like your motorcycle. It's like your feet. If it breaks or doesn't work, it becomes a very expensive, very heavy piece of furniture and I know it can't be moved from the site without the help of the fire department or a family member who can push about 300 pounds. Since these people are so attached to their wheelchair that at the same time it is the only way to be independent, if the chair breaks, is lost somewhere else or even if they manage to put it back in one piece as before, this could constitute a big problem/inconvenience for its owner. Once checked in, a disabled person has the right to be accompanied to the floor in their own chair, as explained in Sage traveling “The European Disabled Travel Experts”. Once you walk on the plain, as a disabled person you leave "your feet" behind you and sit on a seat that you practically won't be able to move for long.