Fortunately my wheelchair arrived in Puerto Vallarta while we were waiting for our luggage and all was well. But it taught me to make sure that I tell this story to every single flight attendant and gate agent we meet when we are flying so that they will check and re-check to make sure that the wheelchair is actually loaded on the plane with me.
We've never had a problem with DD's wheelchair not getting on the plane, but she is very nervous about it until we
know it has been loaded. Sometimes that means just watching out the window and seeing it loaded, sometimes that means asking the Flight Attendant to make sure.
So, I can certainly understand your horror at your situation. It's our worst nightmare, that so far (knock on wood) has not happened.
There are links in either the disABILITIES FAQs thread or another thread stuck to the top of the board about Air travel to most of the articles mentioned in the article.
The article was interesting, but there are a number of things in it that are either wrong or incomplete from my viewpoint of travel with a wheelchair for 20 years.
Quotes from the article are in
blue italics and my quotes are in black regular type.
If you require the bulkhead for any reason, including spatial reasons or for a service animal, the airline is required to provide this for you as long as the bulkhead is not an emergency exit row.
That is true
if you are the first person with a special need to request the bulkhead. They usually will not assign the bulkhead seats until you get to the airport, so someone else may beat.
There may be reasons you
don't want the bulkhead seats. Yes, they do have extra space, but they usually have no place in front of you to place any (and I mean
any) carry on baggage that would normally be placed under the seat in front of you. There is sometimes a little space in the pocket on the back of the first class seat or wall in front of you, but you usually can't put much there. If you need anything from your bag, you can't get it while the seatbelt light is on because you can't open the overhead bins then.
The tray table is usually not going to be in front of you, but in a little compartment in the armrest. To get it out, you have to be able to lift the cover of the armrest and then reach to the side and a little behind you, then grab ahold of the small handle or hook and pull it up and to the side.
You
do want to make sure that whatever row you are sitting in has flip-up armrests in all the seat, including the aisle seat. That makes it MUCH easier to get in.
No matter where you are in the continental United States, travelers with disabilities are allowed to bypass the long lines that are typical of airport Security. Always look for a side entrance and make sure that a security official sees you approaching. They will bring you and the people you are traveling with through to the front of the line.
That is not exactly true.
Because the wheelchair can't go thru the metal detector, they have to bring the parties with wheelchairs into an area where there it can bypass the metal detector. Sometimes the line is for airline and/or airport employees, who have less suff to check. Sometimes they make the line long; sometimes there are a lot or people with disabilities waiting in the line.
The end result is, you are not brought to the front of the line. You may end up with the same, a shorter or even a longer wait than people not in that line - not unlike WDW
After you have gone through Security, head to your gate and wait for a gate agent. If you need an aisle chair to board the plane, be sure to let the gate agent know as soon as they arrive. Even though you have already put this in your reservation profile, it is not always taken care of.
This is good information, but he forgot to mention that you need to make sure to get a gate check tag at that point.
If you have a connecting flight, make sure it is marked correctly - do you want the airplane delivered to the gate at your connecting city or not?
For your final destination, if there are any checkboxes for choices, make sure the right one is checked. You sometimes have a choice between getting the gate-checked chair delivered to the gate at your final city or to baggage claim there. Make sure that is correctly marked and that the city is correct - we once saw a gate agent writing the wrong code on our gate check tag and had it corrected. We knew the codes of the cities we are going to, but if you don't - ask.
After you have settled in and have informed the gate agent of all your needs, check the time and don’t forget to use the restroom just before boarding. Although the Air Carrier Act requires planes of 60 seats or more to carry an onboard wheelchair, flight attendants are not required to assist you into the restroom.
This kind of implies that the bathroom on the plane is wheelchair accessible, it is , but not exactly in the way most people would think of accessible. Often the only difference is that it has grab bars built in and a portable screen that the Flight Attendants will put across the area if you can't get in and shut the door.
Most folding wheelchairs will break down or fold up small enough to fit in any onboard closet. If for some reason your chair will not fit in one of the closets—and this does often happen—
He contradicts himself right here.
Our experience is that many airplanes don't have a closet or don't have one large enough for anything other than a transport wheelchair to fit. There are rules for newer aircraft, but many planes are not that new.
We have put DD's manual wheelchair into plane closets a number of times, but it is not easy to make it fit and usually requires major disassembly, including taking off the wheels. (I'll post more about this tomorrow - too late now).
If for some reason your chair will not fit in one of the closets—and this does often happen—there are steps you can take to avoid potential damages. The first thing you should do is remove your wheels and seat padding and bring them on the plane. These items will easily fit into the overhead compartments or one of the onboard closets.
I would never remove the wheels and gate check the frame. First, the axels are greasy and you will possibly get your hands/other things soiled with grease.
Second, the wheelchair is designed to rest on the wheels, not on the parts of the wheelchair it will be resting on if you remove the wheels - so there would be more chance of damage by taking the wheels off. A wheelchair with no wheels may also be harder for the baggage handlers to move around and they will be forced to lift and carry it when they could roll it if the wheels were on.
You do want to remove anything (other than the wheels) that is easily removable, could come off during travel, could get caught during travel or is fragile. In general, your aim is to make the wheelchair as small and compact as possible. In our experience, that also makes it easier for the baggage handlers, makes them very happy and they are much more likely to handle your equipment carefully.
3. Always put your chair in manual mode so that the people handling the chair have to push it. Someone will inevitably want to take your chair for a joy ride if you don’t.
In step 2, he said to remove the controller. If you do that, there will be no way to go for a joyride with it because you have the controller with you. They will have no option other than pushing it.
You also better provide instructions for them to put it out of the free-wheeling 'push' mode. If they don't know how to put it back into gear, there is a good possibility of your wheelchair rolling around in the baggage hold.
(That reminds me - it said somewhere in the article that they put wheelchairs in a 'special baggage hold', which implies more protected. It's not special, just not the main baggage hold and it is not any more protected.)
He didn't mention protecting the controller, but you want to wrap that (EVEN though you are carrying it on the plane with you. It is the most fragile part).
4. Put your chair into full recline or tilt mode before you let them stow it. Unfortunately, the easiest way to put your power chair into the storage compartment is to pick it up and then lay it on its side. This can cause major damage to your chair. By reclining or tilting it, your chair becomes too long to lie on its side and they will have to set it in upright.
Doing this could severly damage your chair because you have more surface area that could be damaged, things are stretched to their maximum and it may be somewhat less stable. You should check with your equipment company before doing this.
By putting your chair into full recline or tilt, you are making it harder to lay it on its side.
But you are also making it very much more difficult for the baggage handlers to be able to reach any secure parts to lift it with. That means, they are likely to handle it by parts they shouldn't lift it with and have a bigger chance of damaging it. Plus, because you made their job harder, you also have a real good chance of ticking them off.
And the one thing you don't want is a ticked off baggage handler caring for your wheelchair.
5. Always ask for your chair to be brought back to the door of the plane after you land at your destination. Otherwise you will have to be transferred into a manual chair to pick your power chair up at baggage claim.
This should be mentioned before you gate check the chair, or you will end up with it at baggage claim.
The airlines can easily bring your chair to you via elevator.
Unless you have made it too difficult to fit in the elevator by leaving it in full recline or tilt.
6. Once you have landed and the plane is empty, most airlines will want you off the plane immediately so they can clean and get ready for the next flight. They will try to put you onto an aisle chair until your chair arrives.
We do often use an aisle chair for DD (unless our seats are really close to the front. We have not had the experiene he describes and the wheelchair is usually waiting at the gate before the plane is empty.
Erica
