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The many obstacles of travelling with a wheelchair
Navigating the airport
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Kayte Platts Wednesday 21 July 2010 |
In a previous article The pitfalls of disabled travel I discussed the difficulty in travelling whilst in a wheelchair and the implications of getting enough ‘help’ in this situation.
It started me thinking of how hard it must be to get around generally in the airport in a wheelchair. It is quite simply a ‘minefield’ from start to finish.
When you enter Gatwick you are lucky enough to have a ‘ramp’ which takes you up to the level where you ‘check in’ your bags, once you reach this part obviously you have to negotiate customs, that in itself must be a task having to offload all your belongings and as we all know, you practically have to ‘undress’ before you are able to go through, this must be very difficult for some disabled passengers.
The lifts in the airports are another thing to contemplate, quite often they are out of order, the general public will think nothing of filling up a lift, even though they are fully able to go up the escalator, I have watched with much annoyance many a time, a disabled individual battling to get into a lift in amongst a crowd of people, it must be very frustrating. I think this should really be taken into consideration and maybe we should simply only allow people in wheelchairs, or parents with pushchairs to use the lifts, this would cut down on the congestion no doubt.
Boarding the plane, seems to me, another obstacle, I realize that the airlines do try to ‘board’ wheelchair users first and parents with pushchairs, but it doesn’t always happen, and on more than one occasion I have seen the pure frustration on people’s faces having to battle to board the plane, whist dealing with the ‘bun fight’ and people pushing and shoving, there has to be a better plan for these passengers.
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Susan, Ipswich 21 July 2010, 05:24PM | |
I would be interested in hearing posts from frequent disabled travellers. How does the standard of care and facilities for the disabled in other countries compare with the UK? | |
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Natasha Barnes, Middlesex 26 July 2010, 07:59AM | |
I agree with the argument to the lift situation, far too many people use the lifts, when they are more than able to go up the escalator or walk up some stairs, it must be a huge struggle for disabled people to get around in an airport and battling the lifts must be awful for them. | |
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It's about time people were a little more thoughtful and respectful of the disabled, blocking up lifts is very thoughtless and we should all be a bit more accommodating in these situations. | |
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Dennis, Godstone 18 October 2010, 02:33PM | |
I have to travel regulary and although I am not in a wheelchair I am a disabled passenger. Unfortunately as my dissability is not necessary visable other travellers are obviously just trying to get to their destination as quickly as possible and therefore rarely bother to offer any help. I do not want to wear a disabled badge around my neck so just have to deal with inconsiderate travellers. | |
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Samantha Lewis, Maidstone, Kent 8 February 2011, 01:33PM | |
I myself had never really considered the disabled aspects when going on a plane until our wedding in Scotland. My fiancés mother, whom had never taken a flight in her lifetime suffered terribly with emphysema and so would need to have a constant supply of oxygen with her as well as the wheelchair access. I thought we were going to have a real hardship with our trip but were pleasantly surprised with the effortless help we received. Maybe this was just London Stansted but she got made to feel like a first class passenger! | |
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wheelchairs, indore 29 June 2011, 11:38AM | |
Very good post, I was really searching for this topic, as I wanted this topic to understand completely and it is also very rare in internet, that is why it was very difficult to understand. Thank you for sharing this. wheelchairs | |
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