MwezziSep 10, 2023
Reading articles on disability, discrimination and travel is always enraging.
https://www.politico.eu/article/disabled-passengers-push-for-eu-to-reform-nightmare-air-travel/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-gb
“My personal assistant checked more than three times with airport staff and cabin crew whether my wheelchair has been loaded successfully,” he explained, saying that staff confirmed his chair was on board...“I insisted on talking with the captain to clarify how [that could] happen, and he told me he was commanded to take off without my wheelchair in order to avoid a 15-minute delay”
Disabled passengers push for EU to reform ‘nightmare’ air travel

Travelers complain that EU rules aren’t well-suited to dealing with the challenges of disabled people.

POLITICO
Show threadMwezziSep 10, 2023
This is the equivalent of an airline insisting a passenger saw off their legs to reduce fuel consumption.
This man's wheelchair eventually arrived at his destination damaged, leaving him stuck at home until he could get it fixed. If a member of crew had broken both a walking passenger's legs there'd be hell to pay and heavy compensation, yet wheelchair users are being left to front the costs of damage themselves.
If an airline disables someone (as they did here), the airline should pay up.
Show threadMwezzi

Experience of another passenger:
"While wheelchairs are covered by (international, rather than EU) provisions on compensation for battered luggage, there is an upper limit of €1,500, which is often not enough to cover the cost of a damaged wheelchair, EDF said.

In Holst’s case, the damage was €15,000."

Wheelchairs aren't just interchangeable with each other, they're often specially adapted at great expense. Without incentives to treat them with the utmost care, this shit will keep happening.

Sep 10, 2023 at 2:38pmWeb
Show threadMwezziSep 10, 2023
Mobility aids need to be treated as extensions of the user. Damaging a chair should be considered as serious as directly injuring a person with similar compensation and repercussions, and I reckon if airlines understood that breaking a chair *is disabling a person* and made to pay as such they'd be a LOT more careful with them.