"We would never accept airlines breaking the legs of 1 in 65 passengers, and yet, that is essentially what is happening when 1 out of 65 wheelchairs are being broken by airlines."
—Senator Tammy Duckworth to Business Insider.
Traveling as a wheelchair user is an exhausting and stress-inducing experience. Just within this past week this all-too-common occurrence of airlines mishandling wheelchairs has led to a flurry of headlines.
John Morris, founder of WheelchairTravel.org had his wheelchair, valued at $65,000, damaged twice by American Airlines.
Tim Kelly, another wheelchair user, was given airline miles as a "goodwill gesture" after Delta Air Lines forgot to put his chair on his flight from New York to Dublin, and worse, mishandled the chair on the return flight after it arrived causing significant damage.
Patty Bough, 85, was stranded at Orlando International Airport - MCO for 14 hours after Frontier Airlines left her unattended following a missed flight.
Wheelchair users are being forgotten, and the consequences are dire. Airlines often treat us, and our very expensive medical equipment, like trash.
This is not a new problem. Outside of the disability community there seems to be little outrage.
With newly released data from U.S. Department of Transportation showing an average of 35.8 wheelchairs are mishandled by airlines daily, and the uptick in news stories highlighting the anxiety of traveling as a wheelchair user, I wanted to take this opportunity to share an article I wrote last summer for Rooted in Rights detailing why this is such a huge problem for the disability community and why holding airlines accountable is essential.
Change is glacially slow, and occasionally backward. I am grateful to Senator Duckworth for being a leading voice on this issue. She is the very reason airlines are required to provide statistics on mishandled equipment at all.
Another perfect example of why representation matters.
When Your Wheelchair is Your Legs: Holding Airlines Accountable For Broken Mobility Equipment