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Post by blueskye101 on May 5, 2019 22:39:30 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2019 3:23:31 GMT -5
I'm astonished by AA's numbers of problems since they're a big company
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Post by Born2Roll on May 7, 2019 5:49:12 GMT -5
What's important to remember too is that this was only the first month that airlines were (finally) required to share these statistics, so things are just getting started. When AA broke the front wheel off my own chair a few years ago, the DOT officials I spoke with told me they estimate there are at least nine broken chairs that don't get properly reported for every one that does. So the actual numbers are likely closer to ten times the ones above I'm astonished by AA's numbers of problems since they're a big company Unfortunately, big companies just figure it's cheaper to repair a few hundred broken wheelchairs a month than it would be to make any meaningful change and leave it at that. That's all the more reason why I'm excited by the work a group like www.AllWheelsUp.org is doing to develop and crash test wheelchair restraints to FAA standards so that our chairs can stay with us inside the cabin rather than be tossed below. AND, as an added bonus, the same bill that now requires airlines to report the amount of chairs they break also includes federal funding for the research All Wheels Up is doing!
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Post by Corey on May 7, 2019 12:01:33 GMT -5
I’m surprised the numbers are not higher. My chair gets broken about a third of the time I fly.
This is a great law, I hope more airlines re-think how they handle wheelchairs.
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Post by turbo234 on May 7, 2019 12:14:18 GMT -5
I'm astonished by AA's numbers of problems since they're a big company Unfortunately, big companies just figure it's cheaper to repair a few hundred broken wheelchairs a month than it would be to make any meaningful change and leave it at that. That's all the more reason why I'm excited by the work a group like www.AllWheelsUp.org is doing to develop and crash test wheelchair restraints to FAA standards so that our chairs can stay with us inside the cabin rather than be tossed below. AND, as an added bonus, the same bill that now requires airlines to report the amount of chairs they break also includes federal funding for the research All Wheels Up is doing!
OMG! That is so awesome! I pretty much stopped flying after my chair motors were destroyed by incompetent/lazy employees twice and I pretty much got a "too bad, so sad" response from the airline.
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Post by Mets on May 7, 2019 17:47:32 GMT -5
That's all the more reason why I'm excited by the work a group like www.AllWheelsUp.org is doing to develop and crash test wheelchair restraints to FAA standards so that our chairs can stay with us inside the cabin rather than be tossed below. AND, as an added bonus, the same bill that now requires airlines to report the amount of chairs they break also includes federal funding for the research All Wheels Up is doing! All Wheels Up is incredibly promising, I’ve known the founders for my whole life and it’s so cool to see them doing well. It was not that long ago that they were in my garage telling me they were thinking of starting a nonprofit dedicated to wheelchair accessible air travel. Fantastic family all-around, and they honestly work incredibly hard on that. It was quite an adventure to even get it this far.
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Post by Born2Roll on May 7, 2019 18:55:40 GMT -5
All Wheels Up is incredibly promising, I’ve known the founders for my whole life and it’s so cool to see them doing well. It was not that long ago that they were in my garage telling me they were thinking of starting a nonprofit dedicated to wheelchair accessible air travel. Fantastic family all-around, and they honestly work incredibly hard on that. It was quite an adventure to even get it this far. No way, Mets, that's awesome! I thought they lived in Texas??? It truly is a small crip world after all
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Post by Mets on May 7, 2019 20:37:29 GMT -5
All Wheels Up is incredibly promising, I’ve known the founders for my whole life and it’s so cool to see them doing well. It was not that long ago that they were in my garage telling me they were thinking of starting a nonprofit dedicated to wheelchair accessible air travel. Fantastic family all-around, and they honestly work incredibly hard on that. It was quite an adventure to even get it this far. No way, Mets, that's awesome! I thought they lived in Texas??? It truly is a small crip world after all They moved there a few of years ago, but they’re originally from New York just a few minutes from where I grew up. During Hurricane Sandy they took quite a big hit as did we, and they gave us their spare generator. Really, really good people.
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Post by darthoso on May 14, 2019 22:18:46 GMT -5
Came across a story on FB today in which a guy is trying to get the word out after facing a lot of frustrations with SouthWest. Here's the link. SouthWest is notorious for being a piss poor airline, but I can't really speak to whether this is an issue with United States regulations, SouthWest specifically, or more broadly among American air carriers. Do any of you non-American PWD travelers have experience with transferring on and off planes? I've always wondered how people with very limited mobility and/or specific seating needs would handle the cramped accommodations. It's shocking to me that the airline would only allow their staff or firefighters to perform his transfer, and not his PCA(s). Here's the text, in case the link doesn't work or some of y'all don't have the FaceBook. I completely understand his frustration, but this strikes me as a situation where you exploit their ineptitude by just showing up and doing it before the airport workers can process what to do. Because who is "they" he spoke to? Did "they" communicate that policy to the employees at the airport? Probably not. It's a coin flip solution every time but if it works you have a precedent.
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Post by robbb on May 15, 2019 1:29:10 GMT -5
Without going into his other points, I've been UK based airline crew for 33 years and have never seen or heard of an Eagle Lift or anything matching his description. When one fact like this is inaccurate it makes me question the rest of an article.
R.
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Post by Tek on May 15, 2019 12:56:26 GMT -5
Came across a story on FB today in which a guy is trying to get the word out after facing a lot of frustrations with SouthWest. Here's the link. SouthWest is notorious for being a piss poor airline, but I can't really speak to whether this is an issue with United States regulations, SouthWest specifically, or more broadly among American air carriers. Do any of you non-American PWD travelers have experience with transferring on and off planes? I've always wondered how people with very limited mobility and/or specific seating needs would handle the cramped accommodations. It's shocking to me that the airline would only allow their staff or firefighters to perform his transfer, and not his PCA(s). Here's the text, in case the link doesn't work or some of y'all don't have the FaceBook. Although I'm not in the "very limited mobility" group..., I am definitely SOL without any sort of Wheels or Hodor type person around. I've flown a bunch of times around Europe and to the USA and I have never in my life heard of one of those lifts, until today. The tiny aisle chair has been used every time and in my situation that is perfectly fine. I can understand people with certain disabilities not being happy about using the aisle chair or being helped by airpost staff. I wouldn't call them untrained, though. They always have a special way to transfer people and I definitely don't feel like they're just fucking around trying to get you into that seat.
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Post by propheticstature on May 15, 2019 18:56:19 GMT -5
Came across a story on FB today in which a guy is trying to get the word out after facing a lot of frustrations with SouthWest. Here's the link. SouthWest is notorious for being a piss poor airline, but I can't really speak to whether this is an issue with United States regulations, SouthWest specifically, or more broadly among American air carriers. Do any of you non-American PWD travelers have experience with transferring on and off planes? I've always wondered how people with very limited mobility and/or specific seating needs would handle the cramped accommodations. It's shocking to me that the airline would only allow their staff or firefighters to perform his transfer, and not his PCA(s). Here's the text, in case the link doesn't work or some of y'all don't have the FaceBook. Although I'm not in the "very limited mobility" group..., I am definitely SOL without any sort of Wheels or Hodor type person around. I've flown a bunch of times around Europe and to the USA and I have never in my life heard of one of those lifts, until today. The tiny aisle chair has been used every time and in my situation that is perfectly fine. I can understand people with certain disabilities not being happy about using the aisle chair or being helped by airpost staff. I wouldn't call them untrained, though. They always have a special way to transfer people and I definitely don't feel like they're just fucking around trying to get you into that seat. I've only flown once round trip since my injury, and I have to say it was kinda... weird. Those aisle carts they put you on are so much narrower than I thought they'd be, as I'm sure a lot of people here know. I'm only T3, but obviously without my legs or trunk/ab muscles, it was a delicate balance on those things. Not sure what a quad would do, as I was hanging onto my legs for dear life hoping I wouldn't fall off, and if I wasn't so thin I might have. I have NO idea what heavier PWD's do in this situation, it really is ridiculous. Remember that during the Civil Rights area, the first areas of desegregation were related to interstate commerce; like buses & bus stations, trains & train stations, etc. I can't believe we still haven't figured this out, sigh...
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Post by devogirl on May 15, 2019 21:40:46 GMT -5
I agree that his story seems a little strange. As someone said above, the reason you can't keep your wheelchair in the cabin is there is not (yet) a safe way to stow it. So he brings this lift onto the plane, where will it be stowed during the flight? Or was he planning to have them stow it below later? Even if it was true that European airports use them, the lift would be stored in the terminal, not on the plane. Large items that are not secured properly can be dangerous even in moderate turbulence. Also if you were going to spend a lot of money to try out a new system, why pick the airline with the worst customer service? Not that I am defending the airline, flying in the US is a miserable experience for everyone and even more so for PWDs.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2019 13:11:14 GMT -5
Try getting past the metal detectors with prosthetic legs and an arm. Has made for some fun encounters. On the other hand (pun intended) leg room is never an issue. Unlike a wheelchair I can put my legs in the overhead compartment so I feel safer knowing they won't be lost or damaged. I'm shocked at how poor their track record is handling wheelchairs. I use one some days but will avoid flying with it if I can after hearing this.
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sam92
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Post by sam92 on May 19, 2019 19:21:59 GMT -5
Has anyone ever used an Eagle lift while travelling on planes? I know it's available in Australia and America. It's basically a hoist that a person from their wheelchair and places directly in the airplane seat. It makes travel a whole lot easier and the airport staff have been trained well and know exactly how to move and handle a person with a disability.
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