flying with wheelchairs

[monkeysmamma]

When checking the chairs, I keep reading that you should take off everything that comes off them, but I'm wondering what that really means. I keep a 2 foot by 4 foot tub in the back of my van to hold their seat backs, cushions, and stroller bar handles. I take all of that off just to fold the chairs to get them in the back of the van. Should I do that on the plane as well? If so, what's the best way to store all of that in the cabin? They have those heavy Jay3 seat backs with lats and head rests attached to them and I'm a little worried they could get damaged up in the overhead bins if people try to cram stuff in around them.

What's the best way to approach this?

Thanks!

 

[KPeveler]

When checking the chairs, I keep reading that you should take off everything that comes off them, but I'm wondering what that really means. I keep a 2 foot by 4 foot tub in the back of my van to hold their seat backs, cushions, and stroller bar handles. I take all of that off just to fold the chairs to get them in the back of the van. Should I do that on the plane as well? If so, what's the best way to store all of that in the cabin? They have those heavy Jay3 seat backs with lats and head rests attached to them and I'm a little worried they could get damaged up in the overhead bins if people try to cram stuff in around them.

What's the best way to approach this?

Thanks!

I basically strip down the wheelchair as much as possible when I give it to them - the less that is exposed, the less they can break. Honestly, you could probably strip down the chairs and gate check both the chairs and the big tub. I also put BIG signs on the chair that says they CANNOT be put on its side.

I DEFINITELY take off anything that can come off in someone's hand, such as my cushion and the arm rests

If you have old wheels, I suggest using those, as handrims are the easiest to ding up when traveling.

Technically you can bring a bag of wheelchair parts onto the plane without it counting as your "personal item" or "carry on." But since these sound rather large, they likely would not fit overhead.

I tell a flight attendant about what I have in hte overhead bin and that it cannot be squished - since I am always smiling and very polite, they look out for me.

Hope this helps some!

 

[Mary976]

We always gate check DD's chair. She has a super fancy (and super expensive) cushion so we take that off, along with the footrests. If she had arm rests anymore I would take those off too. If she's using her anti-tip bars then I'll flip them around so they're not sticking out when the chair is folded. It's all the things that stick out that can get banged up, and we've had better luck with getting the chair back in the same condition we checked it if we take everything off. I don't know that I would take the back off for the reasons you mentioned, but if you can easily get the headrest off, I would take that off for sure.

I bought a large, heavy duty canvas beach bag with a wide opening from Land's End and everything fits in there, then we store that overhead. Mainly, the bag protects the cushion and also keeps stuff together. Since we pre-board, we are fine on overhead bin space.

Mary

 

[SueM in MN]

I take off whatever can be removed without tools.
If it is attached by gravity or velcro, it could come off in the plane and be separated from DD’s wheelchair. We have been traveling with a wheelchair for many years and I have always taken her wheelchair apart and brought pieces on board the plane with me.
As I take pieces off at the gate, I place them into a cloth laundry bag so I don’t drop any of the small pieces.

This is a picture of DD’s old wheelchair, where you can see her seatback and the headrest. The picture is her old manual wheelchair, but those pieces are the same on her new wheelchair.
The back is a Jay Deep Contour Back , which has a solid shell and a cloth and foam cushion that velcros onto the shell. There are also some smaller positioning pieces velcroed under the cloth. The seatback is heavy and sort of awkwardly shaped.

This picture shows the back of that same wheelchair and you can see the antitipper bars on the bottom of the back. It also shows her seat cushion - a very thick Jay Deep Contour Seat. The seat cushion is almost 5 inches thick at the front, heavy, expensive and has a part inside filled with gel, which would get very messy if the cushion gets punctured ( plus, if the gel was gone, the cushion would not work).
This picture doesn't show her headrest, but does show the Jay back quite well, so you can see how it is shaped. We fit it on the plane in the overhead bin without trouble. It fastens with a clip on each side, plus a pin that fits into a receiving part on the wheelchair frame. Very easy to remove and put back on.

This is what I remove:

- the armrests. The armrests on her old wheelchair were lifted slightly and then could be swung to the side and lifted off. Her new wheelchair has armrests that are clamped on, but I do remove them because I can’t get the seat off if they stay on.

- the seatback. DD’s wheelchair has a Jay Deep Contour back. The cushion for the back is velcro’d on. I take the entire Jay back off so that it does get dislodged, soiled or torn.

- the headrest. DD’s headrest is a “Stealth” headrest that is attached to her setback. The bar with the headrest folds down when we don’t need it or it can be removed by loosening 2 finger tightened bolts. I remove the headrest because the seatback is much smaller without the headrest on it.

- the anti-tippers from the back. I have tipped them up and they are pretty securely attached, but one got bent on the plane once and those babies are expensive. One antitipper cost $100, so I removed them after that.

- the seat cushion. Her seat cushion is a Jay Deep Contour seat cushion with a gel insert. I remove this for several reasons;
The baggage hold gets very cold and the gel will come close to freezing.
The cushion could get soiled or torn.
The gel part of the cushion could get punctured.
The cushion attaches with velcro and could come off.

When I get done removing things, I fold the back canes down and secure them with the seat belt. The footrests are not removable; she has straps on the footrests to hold her feet. I fasten the straps together and kind of tuck them into the footrests so they don’t get caught on anything.

After I am done taking everything apart, the antippers, headrest and armrests are in the laundry bag. I put the Jay seat cushion in the overhead bin, seat side up. I put the seatback on top of it with the seat back so that the cushion side is down against the seat cushion. That normally takes up most of the height of the overhead bin, so nothing else will fit. If there is still room, I put the laundry bag with small pieces on top.
If that won’t fit, I put the laundry bag by itself in the overhead bin. Because the small pieces are in the bag, I don’t have to worry about losing them and they are mostly metal or fairly hard, so won’t get crushed.

When she had removable footrests, I also took those off.

If you want to gate check your large container, you could take the wheelchairs apart, put the pieces in the container and gate check that with the wheelchairs. I would suggest marking the container very well with your name, cell phone number, what it contains and that it is gate checked.
I would also bring duct tape to secure the bin shut (be sure to bring extra for the trip home). And, possibly some clear packing tape to secure the gate check tag to it. The airline people will need to gate check tag both the wheelchair frame and the container.

 

[monkeysmamma]

Wow. Thank you guys!!!! I didn't realize we could check the tub. That makes the whole thing a hundred times easier. Traipsing through the airport with the giant empty tub will be an adventure, but it cetainly beats 32 hours of driving!

Thanks so much for the advice (and pictures!!!!)!

 

[SueM in MN]

Wow. Thank you guys!!!! I didn't realize we could check the tub. That makes the whole thing a hundred times easier. Traipsing through the airport with the giant empty tub will be an adventure, but it cetainly beats 32 hours of driving!

Thanks so much for the advice (and pictures!!!!)!

Double check with the airline about gate checking something that size, but if it's only 2 feet by 4 feet, it would be no bigger than my DD's folded wheelchair with the parts removed.
The other thing to check would be the weight with all the pieces in it - if it's more than 50 pounds, they may say it can't be gate checked.

 

[disneymomma01]

I take off whatever can be removed without tools.
If it is attached by gravity or velcro, it could come off in the plane and be separated from DD’s wheelchair. We have been traveling with a wheelchair for many years and I have always taken her wheelchair apart and brought pieces on board the plane with me.
As I take pieces off at the gate, I place them into a cloth laundry bag so I don’t drop any of the small pieces.

This is a picture of DD’s old wheelchair, where you can see her seatback and the headrest. The picture is her old manual wheelchair, but those pieces are the same on her new wheelchair.
The back is a Jay Deep Contour Back , which has a solid shell and a cloth and foam cushion that velcros onto the shell. There are also some smaller positioning pieces velcroed under the cloth. The seatback is heavy and sort of awkwardly shaped.

This picture shows the back of that same wheelchair and you can see the antitipper bars on the bottom of the back. It also shows her seat cushion - a very thick Jay Deep Contour Seat. The seat cushion is almost 5 inches thick at the front, heavy, expensive and has a part inside filled with gel, which would get very messy if the cushion gets punctured ( plus, if the gel was gone, the cushion would not work).
This picture doesn't show her headrest, but does show the Jay back quite well, so you can see how it is shaped. We fit it on the plane in the overhead bin without trouble. It fastens with a clip on each side, plus a pin that fits into a receiving part on the wheelchair frame. Very easy to remove and put back on.

This is what I remove:

- the armrests. The armrests on her old wheelchair were lifted slightly and then could be swung to the side and lifted off. Her new wheelchair has armrests that are clamped on, but I do remove them because I can’t get the seat off if they stay on.

- the seatback. DD’s wheelchair has a Jay Deep Contour back. The cushion for the back is velcro’d on. I take the entire Jay back off so that it does get dislodged, soiled or torn.

- the headrest. DD’s headrest is a “Stealth” headrest that is attached to her setback. The bar with the headrest folds down when we don’t need it or it can be removed by loosening 2 finger tightened bolts. I remove the headrest because the seatback is much smaller without the headrest on it.

- the anti-tippers from the back. I have tipped them up and they are pretty securely attached, but one got bent on the plane once and those babies are expensive. One antitipper cost $100, so I removed them after that.

- the seat cushion. Her seat cushion is a Jay Deep Contour seat cushion with a gel insert. I remove this for several reasons;
The baggage hold gets very cold and the gel will come close to freezing.
The cushion could get soiled or torn.
The gel part of the cushion could get punctured.
The cushion attaches with velcro and could come off.

When I get done removing things, I fold the back canes down and secure them with the seat belt. The footrests are not removable; she has straps on the footrests to hold her feet. I fasten the straps together and kind of tuck them into the footrests so they don’t get caught on anything.

After I am done taking everything apart, the antippers, headrest and armrests are in the laundry bag. I put the Jay seat cushion in the overhead bin, seat side up. I put the seatback on top of it with the seat back so that the cushion side is down against the seat cushion. That normally takes up most of the height of the overhead bin, so nothing else will fit. If there is still room, I put the laundry bag with small pieces on top.
If that won’t fit, I put the laundry bag by itself in the overhead bin. Because the small pieces are in the bag, I don’t have to worry about losing them and they are mostly metal or fairly hard, so won’t get crushed.

When she had removable footrests, I also took those off.

If you want to gate check your large container, you could take the wheelchairs apart, put the pieces in the container and gate check that with the wheelchairs. I would suggest marking the container very well with your name, cell phone number, what it contains and that it is gate checked.
I would also bring duct tape to secure the bin shut (be sure to bring extra for the trip home). And, possibly some clear packing tape to secure the gate check tag to it. The airline people will need to gate check tag both the wheelchair frame and the container.

WOW!!! I never thought to remove anti-tippers!! YIKES!! So even if the seat cushion is STRONGLY attached, you would still remove it?? The only things we would have to remove from K's chair is the cushion & the anti-tippers. She has a Colours chair & we had it stripped down. All of those options just slowed us down. The last time we flew, the airline messed up he brake a bit. This chair has the brake mounted under the seat. (BONUS) I will have to start making notes to remember all of this info!!

 

[DisneyFairytale]

The answer has been answered really well already above. I have hip dysplasia, so I've done dozens of trips in Disneyland by wheelchair while recovering from hip surgery. All you need to really worry about is removing the parts that are removable by hand, that includes the cushions and the foot rests, you're safe otherwise.

 

[monkeysmamma]

Thanks again everyone. Here's a pic of my ODS's chair from when it was delivered. I put orange dots on everything that pops off easily. (Including dots for the anti-tippers they initially forgot to bring.) My YDS has virtually the same chair, just a bit smaller, so there are lots of pieces to keep track of.

I've never taken the head rest off the seat back, but I'll check that out tonight after they go to sleep. That would certainly make the seat backs easier to manage. Still, the worst part with all of this breaking down and reassembling, will be keeping track of which pieces go with which chair. Time to dig out my silver sharpie!

I probably ought to check with the DME folks and find out how many chairs their buses can hold too. Wouldn't want any unpleasant surprises there!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks again everyone. Here's a pic of my ODS's chair from when it was delivered. I put orange dots on everything that pops off easily. (Including dots for the anti-tippers they initially forgot to bring.) My YDS has virtually the same chair, just a bit smaller, so there are lots of pieces to keep track of.

I've never taken the head rest off the seat back, but I'll check that out tonight after they go to sleep. That would certainly make the seat backs easier to manage. Still, the worst part with all of this breaking down and reassembling, will be keeping track of which pieces go with which chair. Time to dig out my silver sharpie!

I probably ought to check with the DME folks and find out how many chairs their buses can hold too. Wouldn't want any unpleasant surprises there!

We've only ever been on a DME bus that was set up for one wheelchair, but I know they can hold at least 2, possibly 3. There are dome pictures in the disABILITIES FAQs thread. I think the DME stuff is on the top of page 2 of that thread.

For marking things, nail polish works very well. You can use different colors for each chair and use different numbers of dots fir things that need to match up. It works well, holds up pretty well, can usually be removed fairly easily and is inexpensive.

 

[monkeysmamma]

Cool. Thanks!

 

[disneyworldmom2]

I'm so glad I looked at this thread tonight! I never would have thought about trying to take the foot rests of DS's chair. We are planning on NOT taking the canopy, as it does not fold down at all. I found some inexpensive beach-chair umbrellas that clip on, and thought they would work great, until I realized they were too big to fit in the suitcase! Anyone have any suggestions? Can I carry an umbrella on the plane with me? Thanks!