“New Bill Addresses Wheelchair Issues on Airlines in the United States”

In the United States, Congress plans to crack down on airlines, accused of not doing enough to assist their customers in general, and disabled passengers in particular. A law, the Mobile Act, is under discussion in the House of Representatives and the Senate, while wheelchairs do not always come out unscathed from theft.

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In 2022, in the United States, authorities calculated that 11,389 wheelchairs were either lost, damaged, stolen or delivered late. This is the highest total since 2018 and the start of this data. On average, more than one in 100 passengers has a problem. Spirit and Jetblue, two low-cost companies, have the worst figures in this area; more than 5% incidents. Last month, for example, Colleen Flanagan, a disabled resident of Boston, who was traveling to Washington on a JetBlue flight to speak with elected officials, was stuck for several hours at the airport because the joystick of her electric wheelchair was broken. Unable to move. She had to wait three hours, in tears, for a loan chair to arrive from another city. The company “stole my independence“, she explained to the local press.

What does the bill propose?

Transparency, already. The companies will have to clearly mention the dimensions of the plane so that the passengers, whose seats are often made to measure, therefore without standard size, can get an idea of ​​the aircraft in which they are boarding. They will also need to be able to consult the incidents recorded by each company as well as their severity to help them choose when buying their ticket. Another point of the text of the law is to conduct a study on the feasibility and cost of modifying aircraft so that a passenger can board the plane directly in his chair, which is not the case today. He must be carried to his seat on the plane, at the risk of falling or being injured, not to mention the discomfort.

After all, buses, trains sometimes have ramps and folding seats to make room for an armchair. These facilities would no doubt be expensive, but it was pointed out to Congress that as the population ages, more and more people will need them. And a 2021 government report suggests that removing two rows of seats on an airplane would guarantee the space needed for an armchair.

The text is unanimous in Washington

Note that this is a bill that brings together Republicans and Democrats, which does not happen so often in Washington these days. And the organization that represents the airlines also says it is in favor of the text. The text is notably carried by the Democratic senator from Illinois Tammy Duckworth, who moves in a wheelchair. She is a former soldier, the daughter of a soldier, seriously injured on the forehead when the helicopter she was flying was shot down in Iraq in 2004. The accident cost her both her legs.

His personal story and his sacrifice earn him respect in Washington. “As a passenger whose wheelchair is regularly damaged, I fully understand how frustrating it is that our airlines fail to ensure that every passenger with a disability is treated with dignity and respect.she explained in a press release. It’s time we made air travel simpler and more accessible for millions of Americans.”.