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Thursday May 29, 2008

Taking flight

Wheel PowerBy ANTHONY THANASAYAN

It is getting easier for disabled persons to travel by air but this does not mean that all flights are problem-free.

IT HAS been sometime since I last travelled in an aeroplane. Most of my experiences in an aircraft, both local and overseas, have been positive ones, except for an occasional glitch.

Once I was wheeled all the way to the entrance of the aircraft, only to be stopped in my tracks and asked by the crew to get out of my wheelchair and walk to my cabin seat. For those who are unaware, regular wheelchairs are too big to fit into the narrow aisles of the aircraft.

Normally, disabled passengers at the check-in counters are asked to switch wheelchairs and get into the airport’s specially-designed compact ones which can negotiate the narrow cabin space.

I do not blame the poor fellows for asking me to do the impossible. There are many people who use wheelchairs but they are able to walk. They use wheelchairs because of old age or difficulty in walking long distances.

Having said that, it would be a good idea for airlines to take the trouble to find out the level of handicap of each disabled passenger before they board the plane. This would save both the crew and disabled passengers, a great deal of awkwardness and embarrassment.

Some of the customer care staff who answer the telephone are not knowledgeable about available services for disabled passengers.

Last weekend, I rang up a local airline and enquired about a flight that I wanted to take from Kuala Lumpur to Penang. When the officer heard that I was in a wheelchair, she said there was no way I could travel by myself.

“You have to get someone to accompany you because our airlines will not provide any assistance for you,” she said.

When I asked her if she was absolutely sure about her facts, she gave me a totally different response when she came back on the line after making me wait for 15 minutes.

Though it is getting easier for disabled persons to travel by air, thanks to increasing awareness about their specific needs, it does not mean that all flights are problem-free. Some airlines charge the handicapped for the use of wheelchairs and other assistive devices.

Others come up with unfair policies that require disabled passengers to sign permission and indemnity forms before they can travel.

Well-known disability organisations like the Canadian-based Disabled People’s International (DPI) highlighted these concerns recently by pointing out that airlines that resorted to such practices lacked respect and appreciation for what the disabled have to go through in life.

Quoting New Delhi’s aviation ministry as a good example, DPI pointed out the new rules that took effect on May 7. The Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) states that “airlines and airports must provide wheelchairs or other assistive devices free of cost to users.”

It is now mandatory for every airport operator to make appropriate provisions, including ambulifts, to enable disabled passengers to embark or disembark without inconvenience.

DPI went on to say that airlines have also been asked not to turn away a passenger with a disability. They have been told “not to insist on medical clearance or special forms unless they have information that the passengers suffer from some contagious disease or would require attention during flight to maintain their health.”

The DPI also included a report from the Times of India that the handicapped who use service dogs will now be able to have their companions travel with them on the plane, without charge.

The rule only applies to canines that guide humans “with disability and/or reduced mobility”.

The animal, however, needs to be well-trained in order not to inconvenience other passengers.