Two high-profile incidents that reached the mainstream media recently have served as reminders that not all travel is equal – and that airlines and train operators have a duty to ensure that disabled travellers have a travel experience that is comfortable at best, and in line with disability discrimination laws at worst.

In summer 2024, on her way to the Paralympic Games in Paris, former Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson had to crawl off a train in London when the agreed assistance was not on hand for her to disembark the train. Baroness Grey-Thompson told the BBC: “There was no one there to meet me and I waited five minutes before putting anything on social media because you’re meant to leave five minutes. After 16 minutes of waiting at King’s Cross, there was no one in sight. There were a couple of cleaners but they’re not insured or able to help me off. So I decided that I would crawl off the train.”

In October, BBC Security Correspondent and former ITIC keynote speaker Frank Gardner had a similarly distressing experience when he had to crawl across the floor of a Polish Airlines LOT plane in order to reach the toilet. Writing on the BBC website, he commented: “[It was] physically deeply uncomfortable and also, of course, quite degrading. In this instance it was humiliating to have to shuffle along the floor of an aircraft in front of other passengers in my suit.

There were 4.5 million requests for assistance either departing, arriving, or connecting at a UK airport throughout 2023 and 2024, equating to over 2% of passengers

“Polish Airlines LOT, which flies in and out of Heathrow, said it was not their policy to have onboard aisle chairs. This is unacceptable for disabled passengers, since these devices are smaller than a pram and can easily fold up to fit into a cupboard or an overhead locker.”

LOT apologised for the incident, and told the Guardian newspaper: “Currently, onboard wheelchairs are available on our Dreamliner aircraft. However, due to limited space, our short-haul fleet does not yet have this facility. We understand the importance of accessibility and are actively testing solutions to equip our short-haul aircraft with onboard wheelchairs in the near future.”

AirHelp, a travel tech company supporting passengers with flight disruptions, recently published its AirHelp Accessibility Performance Report. The report aims to educate and inform passengers with disabilities, reduced mobility, and additional needs about their rights under various global laws, placing safety and comfort at the forefront of their travel experience. 

While the data in the report is gathered from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), it demonstrates the size and potential scope of the disabled travel market: there were 4.5 million requests for assistance either departing, arriving, or connecting at a UK airport throughout 2023 and 2024, equating to over 2% of passengers. This was a 21% increase from 2022’s recordings, in which 3.7 million passengers requested additional support. Approximately 86% of last year’s requests for assistance were for less mobile people who required assistance around the airports; 6% were for people with more complex physical needs, often using their own wheelchair; and 8% were for people who are blind, deaf or have a non-visible disability.

Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp, told ITIJ: “The travel industry – particularly the aviation sector – can improve accessibility by making the passenger experience for travellers with specific requirements less stressful. As recent examples have shown, the experience of flyers with disabilities is often regarded as an afterthought, in which the right equipment or processes are not put in place.” 

Regarding what the solutions might be, Pawliszyn was keen to highlight the potential that technology holds to make the travelling process easier: “Mobile applications, for example, can be an incredible asset for the disability community, by supporting them as they journey through airports whilst delivering extensive information on accessibility services. According to CAA data, 86% of assistance requests in 2023 were for people with reduced mobility requiring support around airports. So, clearly, this is an area that needs improvement. Enhancing accessibility in the air is more challenging, but airlines should ensure that they have onboard aisle chairs as standard and that inclusive seats allow travellers to stay in their wheelchairs when being seated. Getting the basics right is even more critical in the sky.”

Travel organisations working with suppliers

ABTA, the British tour operators’ association, has advice for accessible travel on its website, which in some ways appears to put the burden on the traveller to declare their additional needs during their booking process, rather than expecting the travel industry to be able to cater to needs of a diverse range of customers.

The website states: “Travel can be challenging for everyone, but if you have any kind of disability you may be worried about getting the assistance you need. ABTA works with its Members and tourism suppliers worldwide keeping them up-to-date with the latest requirements and providing training and advice when needed. We know that it’s vital for customers to understand and make their own minds up about what assistance they will need, including getting adequate information about walking distances at airports or onboard large ships.

“We also know it’s vital to help customers provide the right information about their needs to the right people at the right time. That way our Members and those working in the travel industry don’t make assumptions about disabled customers.”

ABTA also offers links to documents including the UK’s Access to Air Travel for Disabled People Code of Practice, which was produced by the Department for Transport – in 2003. 

Commercial repatriation for injured passengers

For those passengers who live with disabilities, they may be practised at navigating the challenges associated with travel. For those who have been injured abroad and have to fly back to their home country with a new injury that affects their movement, the challenges can be even harder to overcome.

Assistance companies and commercial repatriation organisers are there to help, but they too have to overcome logistics and complications when it comes to managing the travel plans for patients needing additional assistance. 

Marc Banting, Chief Operating Officer for Voyageur 24, said to ITIJ: “Stretchers are easy enough to arrange, as long as the travel agency has the competency and experience to know how to manage the booking and the assistance company has all the information required first time, even down to the patient’s height and weight.”

While some airlines make it easy to organise a stretcher repatriation, others might not be as experienced and it becomes more complex. Banting said: “The number of airlines willing to carry a stretcher patient is decreasing all the time, and newer aircraft that may not be suitable for the installation and provision of stretchers are also affecting capacity. The main players from a European perspective that offer this service, and are easy to deal with, are Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. Whilst not all of their aircraft or outstations are equipped to offer it, when it can be done, it is completed with ease, precision and generally a very good experience for the patient, when an air ambulance is not required.” 

The number of airlines willing to carry a stretcher patient is decreasing all the time, and newer aircraft that may not be suitable for the installation and provision of stretchers are also affecting capacity

Cost, however, can be an issue, as he explained: “Other carriers will offer a stretcher service, but if they have to overbook the flight to accommodate it, the client is required to pay all the offload fees (the cost incurred should other passengers be removed from the flight in order to accommodate the stretcher), which are non-refundable in case of cancellation at any point. Other carriers can only install the stretcher facility in their main hub, so the cost of the stretcher would be doubled, due to having to pay for it both ways, and in the case of a connecting flight, these logistics come at a cost.” So, while it can still be more cost-effective than an air ambulance, the price of getting a stretcher on board a commercial flight can still be higher than some might expect.

For injured travellers relying on wheelchairs from airports and airlines, availability can be patchy, as Banting explained: “Larger ski resort airports might be extremely well set up to provide a comprehensive ground assistance service. This comes with an abundance of wheelchairs available, and an efficient ambulift to the door of the aircraft. Having said that, even at the best of airports, in the middle of ski season it is not unheard of that they simply run out of wheelchairs, especially if an outbound flight is delayed, and all wheelchairs are occupied. 

“When passengers have requested assistance, they expect 
there to be a wheelchair waiting for them, often with a kerbside-to-kerbside service. However, the airline assistance is technically from check-in desk to baggage belt. The ground staff will usually assist people on the opposite ends of the agreements; however, not all are that willing, especially in overcrowded busy airports on ‘Ski Saturday’.”

Work remains to improve accessibility 

In an interview with CN Traveller in 2023, actor George Robinson, who is a wheelchair user, highlighted key aspects of challenges that remain for the travel industry that need to be addressed: “I shouldn’t have to put up with the indignity of being carried through a plane full of people just to get to my seat and I’m absolutely certain that there are solutions that will stop the need for this. There are far too many videos (and stories that don’t get recorded) of wheelchair users having to drag themselves along the floor in order to get to the toilet on a flight. There needs to be more investment on the infrastructure of airplanes to make flying a more pleasant experience for people with disabilities.”

Assistance companies and commercial repatriation organisers are there to help, but they too have to overcome logistics and complications when it comes to managing the travel plans for patients needing additional assistance

Robinson also noted the worry he and other wheelchair users have that, upon leaving their wheelchair at the plane door and handing it over to the baggage handler team, it could be damaged in transit. The National Wheelchair Basketball Championships, held in the US in April 2024, saw several athletes’ wheelchairs damaged in transit, with some having had the wheels removed – despite instructions not to – leading to calls for change in airline policy. According to the US Department of Transportation (DOT), more than 11,000 wheelchairs and mobility scooters were mishandled during transit in 2023.

As a result of increasing numbers of reports of wheelchairs being damaged, the DOT has proposed new regulations that address three different areas of concern:

• Penalties and remedies for wheelchair mishandling
• Safe, dignified and prompt assistance
• Improved standards on board aircraft.

When passengers have requested assistance, they expect there to be a wheelchair waiting for them, often with a kerbside-to-kerbside service

Speaking about the new rules, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg commented: “There are millions of Americans with disabilities who do not travel by plane because of inadequate airline practices and inadequate government regulation, but now we are setting out to change that. This new rule would change the way airlines operate to ensure that travellers using wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.”

Pawliszyn commented: “Whilst regulations may be patchy around the world, it is important to state that globally, no matter where you are, passengers with disabilities have the same right to access air travel as people without disabilities. Despite there being a lack of cohesion between regulations on accessibility, this in fact provides an opportunity for the travel sector to work more closely together to ensure the development of common standards for the benefit of passengers with accessibility needs. For travellers to have a good experience, both airports involved in the journey, and the airline itself, need to follow a common set of principles. Otherwise, it proves challenging to maintain a consistent level of support. A common industry accessibility standard created in collaboration by key trade associations, airports and airlines could be a game-changer in the absence of consistent regulations.”