Flying with a disability comes with many challenges. However, advance planning and effective self-advocacy can make the trip much smoother. United Spinal Association’s Navigating the Skies is a guide to accessible air travel for anyone with a spinal cord injury, physical disability or limited mobility who wishes to travel by air. It contains a complete list of the accommodations that can be requested, contact info of major U.S. airlines, forms for reporting damage to equipment and more. Here are a few tips to help make your next flight as safe and enjoyable as possible.
Booking Your Flight
Find nonstop or direct flights to your destination. If no direct flights are available, include in your planning the time needed to deplane and travel to a new gate at your layover airport. If you’re traveling to a faraway destination, consider breaking travel up into more than one day to allow your body to rest.
Requesting Accommodations
Accommodation requests can be made online or by calling the airline directly. You can request assistance with getting through the airport, preboarding, sitting near a companion in a seat that suits your needs, flying with a service dog, etc. If traveling with a service animal, complete the U.S. Department of Transportation Service Animal Air Transportation Form to present to the airline on travel day.
Choose a seat that works best for what you need. The aircraft has designated aisle seats with removable armrests to allow easier transfers to and from an aisle chair. Bulkhead seats usually make up the first row of seats in each class cabin. They don’t have removable armrests but offer more legroom and are favorable for traveling with a service animal.
Getting Through Security
Every traveler is required to go through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint for screening. The TSA Cares helpline is available to assist travelers with disabilities in the screening process. It is best to contact the TSA with any questions at least 72 hours before traveling. They can be reached at 855/787-2227.
During the screening process, you can ask for a private screening with or without a companion, and request that the screening be completed in your wheelchair or scooter. Many wheelchair users apply for TSA Precheck to make the security process easier (see below).
Is TSA PreCheck Worth It for Wheelchair Users?
If you’re tired of extended, invasive pat-downs and long waits when you go through airport security, TSA PreCheck could be the solution you’ve been looking for. With TSA PreCheck, you can skip the long security lines for the much-faster TSA PreCheck line. A Transportation Security Administration agent will still swab your chair for explosive chemicals, but, barring a positive test, you can avoid a full pat-down and having to take off your shoes.
To apply for TSA PreCheck and receive a Known Traveler Number, you must fill out an online application with your place of employment, your primary residence dating back five years, and your criminal history. You will then schedule your interview with a TSA agent, where they will confirm the information you have provided and fingerprint you. If you are unable to utilize the digital fingerprint scanner, the TSA agent can assist, or you may have a personal care attendant to assist. The TSA charges $78 for the background check. Within 60 days of your interview, they will let you know if you are approved. Your Known Traveler Number is valid for five years.
New Mobility columnist Teal Sherer was hesitant to apply for TSA PreCheck but now can’t imagine traveling without it. “I get through security faster, I don’t have to do the pat-down, and I don’t get asked to take off my shoes,” she says.
If at any time you feel your civil rights and liberties are being violated or if you have been discriminated against during a previous interaction with a TSA Agent, you can file a complaint on the TSA website or call 855/787-2227. You can also call to request assistance during the screening process if you have specific needs that will not be met by the traditional screening.
— Hilary Muehlberger
Boarding the Flight
All airlines allow people with disabilities to board first. When you arrive at the gate, talk to the agent to let them know what assistance you require, and obtain a gate check tag to attach to your device if stowing it in the cargo compartment.
Be mindful of your bowel and bladder management in the days leading up to your flight, and use the bathroom before boarding the plane. Bathrooms on single-aisle aircraft are not accessible to wheelchair users.
Proceed down the jet bridge in your own wheelchair before transferring onto an aisle chair. If you’re able, transfer into the aisle chair on your own. If you’re unable to transfer without assistance, make sure you clearly communicate to the team assisting you the specific details on how to best transfer you to your assigned seat. You are in charge here, so don’t let them transfer you until they’re in position to do so safely.
Protecting Your Assistive Device
One of the biggest anxieties that wheelchair users face when flying is whether their equipment will be damaged. It is crucial to take steps to protect your devices and have a backup plan if damage occurs.
Familiarize yourself with the specifics of your assistive device, including weight, dimensions, battery type, etc. Notify your durable medical equipment supplier that you will be traveling by plane, and locate suppliers nearby your destination in the event your mobility device sustains damage.
Prepare an information sheet for airline personnel, with clear instructions how to care for your assistive device. Know how to disassemble any removable or fragile parts for stowage, and stow as much mobility equipment in the cabin as possible. Any mobility device stowed in the cabin will not count toward the carry-on baggage limit.
Take a photo documenting your device’s condition before handing it over to airline personnel. If your device arrives damaged after the flight, you’ll have proof of what went wrong. Document any damages, injuries or other issues incurred during the flight, and report them to the airline immediately. Follow up with the DOT within six months of the incident.
United Spinal, Navigating the Skies: unitedspinal.org/pdf/NavigatingTheSkies.pdf.
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Thanks for the reporting on this. My wife’s powerchair was damaged multiple times with $20,000 in cumulative damage that airlines had to pay out. It finally abated (mostly) when I started asking the airline personnel at the gates if I could speak with the person or ramp manager that will be loading the chair. I then explain to them each time, in person that:1. How the motor disengages. 2. It CANNOT be loaded sideways. 3. How to lower theback of the chair to fit in the hold of the plane. 4. How much they’ve paid out already 5. How fragile the hand controller is and to protect it. Now, it all goes out the window it they transfer straight to another plane during the trip; a large sign on it helps sometimes.
Remember the American Touristser commercial in the 80s. With the gorilla. “When it’s out of your hands; it’s out of your hands.”
I feel you pain.