U.S. Airlines Mandated to Keep Records of Damaged Wheelchairs
For many wheelchair users, the problems associated with flying are common and nothing new. Yet time and again legislators have failed to do anything meaningful about the situation. That is until a law-maker from the State of Illinois, experienced the very same issues which had befallen many others before her.
Following a flight from Washington D.C. to Chicago, Tammy Duckworth soon discovered that the airline had managed to snap a titanium rod which caused the wheelchair to collapse beneath her. In the election campaign of 2016, Tammy was elected to the United States Senate and this is when she began her campaign to get the law changed.
AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE
As a United States Army veteran, Senator Duckworth became a wheelchair user following an attack on the helicopter she was in, whilst serving in Iraq. When reliving the experience of her journey to Chicago, she claimed that following the collapse of the wheelchair, “They kind of lugged me up the ramp and I sat in the waiting room area”. Eventually a standard airport wheelchair arrived which meant that someone was now required to push the Senator.
Now, since Sen. Duckworth’s intervention, airlines in the U.S.A. will be required to keep a record of the damage caused to both wheelchairs and electric scooters. This information will then be published on the Department for Transportation website in their monthly Air Travel Consumer Reports.
The new regulations were delayed by President Trump’s administration as the airlines complained that they needed more time to implement some of the regulation. The representative of the airline industry in America saying, “[airlines] provide safe and comfortable air transportation to hundreds of passengers with disabilities daily” and are “committed to offering a high level of customer service.” However, Sen. Duckworth said that they failed to acknowledge the distress and inconvenience caused when a passengers’ wheelchair was damaged.
The statistics which will be produced from the forthcoming data may well prove how bad the airline industry performs in this area and there will certainly be an impact on those airlines that continue to do badly.
It might be hoped that further afield, tis new legislation will have an impact on lawmakers in other parts of the world as passengers across Europe continue to register their disappointment with the airline industry there.
Post Categories: Travel Advice
