Are Legal Rights Enough?

Having the legal right to travel is not much comfort to someone whose trip is ruined by the lack of accessible transportation and services.

In the Luxury Travel topic on Suite101, Jennifer Miner has started an interesting discussion, beginning with her article, Airline Travel Satisfaction is Low.

In the related discussion, the question came up about the rights of travellers with disabilities, when travelling by air.

While I cannot speak specifically about every airline in every country, I think it's fair to expect that the legislation in Canada, the United States, the European Union, and Australia and New Zealand, will prohibit discrimation on the basis of disability. I am not commenting on other countries because I am less familiar with them and with their airlines. The general provision is that travellers with disabilities should be given reasonable accommodation so that they can use the same services as the rest of the travelling public.

The problem is, what good are legal rights if they are not respected? When it comes to travel, often decisions are made on the spot, far from home, in situations where there may not be many alternatives.

I sympathize with people who have decided to stop travelling by air, for fear they will receive poor treatment. The mere chance of being stuck in an airplane like a prisoner on the tarmac for multiple hours would be enough to keep me away. (Luckily for me, my own travel doesn't usually involve the risk of being in one of those situations, touch wood).

In this Accessible Travel section on Suite101, I have written a number of times about some of the things a traveller with special needs can do to help themselves. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees and with some degree of regret I admit that it is always wise to have one or two contingency plans because there is always some screw-up somewhere, no matter how well you plan ahead. I hate to say that, because I have also seen evidence of organizations trying extremely hard to be sensitive and proactive in meeting their customers' needs.

Here's a suggestion. Before choosing to fly a particular route, do a risk assessment. List the things that you are worried about, in one column. In the next column, rate the likelihood of the thing actually happening. In the final column, rate the severity of the consequences if that thing does happen. Then decide what your back-up plan will be for the most likely bad things, and for the ones with the most severe consequences. Then, look at what your alternatives are (other ways of making the trip) and decide your course of action.

Example:

Flying with oxygen.

Risk: airline will not allow oxygen tank to be brought on board; will insist on making you use their own oxygen at an additional cost. (This was raised in the discussion about customer satisfaction on airlines, and has also been the subject of a dispute before the Canadian Transport Agency).

Likelihood of this happening: (do your homework and find out the airline's policy on this). For this example, we'll say it's a low likelihood.

Severity of consequences: High. (Again, that is just a made-up answer).

Back-up plan (for example): Bring extra cash to pay for the additional oxygen. Bring a copy of the court and tribunal decisions which permit you to use your own oxygen. Be equipped to use the airline's oxygen, but make it clear you are doing so under protest. Make an on-the-spot complaint, and ask to speak to the person designated by the airline to deal with disability-related discrimination.

You would then continue listing and rating any other risks. At the end of the process, go through and decide whether you can manage the trip or whether you would be more comfortable, physically and mentally, using another form of transportation.

Finally, I would encourage anyone with a concern about disability and travelling to talk directly with the airline. It may take some searching to reach the right person, but after you have done a risk assessment, if you are still not comfortable in choosing to fly, I think you would be doing yourself and the rest of the travelling public a service by letting the airlines know exactly how they are missing the mark. In the best case, the airline might have a suggestion that would make your trip more accessible than you expect. I live in hope.

Aviation is a very competitive industry. Every year, more of us get older and develop disabilities. If the airlines want to keep our business, they will have to keep providing accessible service.