Written by Jessica Pucket, October 9, 2023
For airline passengers who are wheelchair users, flying is not an easy process. Much of the airline experience, from boarding to using the lavatory to deplaning, can be cumbersome and uncomfortable.
One common issue that these travelers usually face at some point is a chair that was damaged after being placed in the cargo hold. It happens to thousands of travelers each year. In 2022, US airlines mishandled a total of 11,389 wheelchairs and scooters, according to statistics from the Department of Transportation.
The crux of the issue is the fact that not all planes have holds large enough to fit electric wheelchairs and scooters—and wheelchair users have no way to tell if their equipment will fit on the flights they book. “Passengers book on major airlines thinking all is well and don’t understand when it says ‘operated by United Express,’ that means it’s a commuter flight,” says Debra Kerper, a wheelchair user and founder of Easy Access Travel, an agency that specializes in planning accessible trips. A commuter flight on a subsidiary airline means a smaller plane, with a much smaller cargo hold. “When the chairs don’t fit, that is when the ramp crew will start taking the chair apart and that is when the problems begin,” Kerper says.
United Airlines is improving the process with a new booking tool designed especially for wheelchair users. Beginning in early 2024, the airline is introducing a first-of-its kind online filter that will show which aircraft can accommodate different sizes of wheelchairs. Passengers can enter their chair’s unique dimensions along with other flight search criteria, like departure time, fare class, and number of layovers. The search results will then prioritize flights operated by aircraft with cargo doors large enough to accommodate the specific size of the wheelchair.
If a more expensive flight is needed to accommodate a flier’s chair, United will refund the difference in fare. (Passengers will need to fill out a refund request form after they travel.) The new initiative is the result of a partnership between the airline and the Department of Transportation to make the flight process more accessible.
“By offering customers an easy way to know if their personal wheelchair fits on a particular airplane, we can give them the peace of mind they deserve when they fly with us,” Linda Jojo, United’s chief customer officer, said in a statement. “Plus, collecting this information ahead of time ensures our team can handle these special items with proper care and attention.”
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By eliminating the guesswork from the booking process, fliers who use wheelchairs can travel more confidently. “I think that this new booking tool will undoubtedly make the travel experience easier for wheelchair users,” says Cory Lee, who runs the travel site Curb Free With Cory Lee. “It will be much more convenient to know if my wheelchair will fit in the cargo hold when I’m beginning the trip planning process. I really hope that other airlines will do the same thing in the near future.”
After high-profile incidents of expensive damage to wheelchairs across the entire industry, many airlines no longer accept wheelchairs unless they easily fit in the cargo hold. Not knowing whether a wheelchair will be accepted on board a plane can lead some travelers to stay home. “I use a motorized wheelchair that weighs about 400 pounds, and it is quite bulky, so this is a frequent problem that I encounter,” Lee says. “I have been turned away from flights multiple times due to my wheelchair not being able to fit in the cargo hold, and it’s something that I constantly worry about when I need to fly on smaller planes. The uncertainty has kept me from traveling to certain places.”
Kerper says that in the past, the issue has left some passengers stranded, ruining their vacations. “This tool is a big step in avoiding this problem,” she says. “It needs to be implemented by all airlines.”
United is also taking other steps to enhance the process for passengers with wheelchairs, like starting a six-month pilot program at Houston’s Intercontinental airport that will test new services in the event a wheelchair does become damaged or delayed, like offering specialized seating at the airport and reimbursing transportation costs if the customer wants to wait for their chair somewhere outside the airport.
The airline has also begun providing ramp agents with new mobile technology that alerts them to the fact that a wheelchair will be on the flight so they can prepare to load it in the hold.
Still, travelers say airlines could go farther, especially when it comes to educating staff. “I wish that airlines would better train their employees on how to transfer wheelchair users onboard and how to load wheelchairs,” Lee says. “As a frequent flier, I have met a lot of airline employees that simply didn’t have any real training. I would love for airlines to hire actual wheelchair users to come in and speak about why it’s important to care for mobility devices.” Hearing directly from wheelchair users would create more empathy, according to Lee.
Kerper agrees: “Employees need to understand that a wheelchair is not a piece of equipment, it is a person’s legs.”