Summary
- Booking a flight online is simple for most, but wheelchair users face hurdles requiring extra forms and repeating information.
- Asiana Airlines’ lack of organization and communication resulted in a stressful experience for a traveler with disabilities.
- The airline industry must improve internal communication, staff training, and facilities to accommodate passengers with disabilities.
Booking a flight is easy online for most travelers. Within a few clicks after selecting the desired route, date, travel class and other relevant information, customers are taken to the given airline’s payment page and issued a ticket. While this might work for most, the process is not the same for all.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 1.3 billion people (equivalent to 16% of the global population) experience a significant disability today, including both mental and physical impairments. For example, for wheelchair users, booking a flight is an entirely different story; additional forms need to be filled out, and airlines must be notified of the assistive device.
Check-in agents and airline staff are too often unaware of their own rules regarding wheelchairs, for example. Complicated booking processes and a severe lack of internal communication mean wheelchair users find themselves repeating the exact personal information time and time again. Stressed out by the overcomplicated nature of traveling with a disability, many choose to avoid it altogether.
This stress is precisely what travel blogger Shane Hryhorec experienced on his recent
trip from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) in Japan to Korea’s Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN). He tells Simple Flying about his experience, reiterating the concerns faced by those requiring assisted mobility when traveling by air.
The HND-ICN route is operated by Asiana Airlines under the flight number OZ177. It typically uses Airbus A321neo equipment. The carrier also flies daily from Tokyo Narita airport with a mix of widebody and narrowbody planes.
The Asiana Airlines mess
The check-in process is usually quite speedy for most travelers, especially if you’re the first one there. However, this was not the case for Hryhorec.
“And here I am sitting at the check-in counter, two and a half hours into the checking process. And in my mind at that moment, I thought, well, there’s absolutely no way they are going to allow me to fly.
Obviously that made me really stressed and upset. Traveling with disability is difficult, but having a disability and then being stranded at an airport in a foreign country is you know, it’s horrifying, the idea of that. As I was sitting there, I was researching how to get to Korea by boat and realized if I went down to the bottom of Japan, I had to get on two trains, book accommodation and all that would probably take me two or three days to get there with the transit time just to get down to the port.”
It began and ended with questions and confusion. As the Asiana check-in agents tried to understand the nature of Hryhorec’s mobility assist devices, he found himself repeating the same answers over and over.
“When I went to check in and you know, it was there was already straightaway a bit of a language barrier. And I was I was in a good mood to start off with and then the person that was processing me to check in and she was asking me questions on my batteries. And I was answering those questions and then she kept asking the same questions over and over again and it became quite clear that there was some confusion about what they can and can’t allow on to the aeroplane.”
The issue for the Asiana staff was the Lithium batteries in the wheelchair and power assist. According to the Asiana Airlines website, its policy for Carrying Batteries of Electronic Wheelchairs and Scooters states that passengers concerned are allowed one 300Wh battery and one spare. Hryhorec says he had one 300Wh battery for his power assist and one 240Wh battery for his chair. The latter acted as the “spare,” therefore.
Photo: EQRoy | Shutterstock
Almost three hours after he began at check-in, Hryhorec’s boarding pass was issued, and he was forced to rush through security to make the flight. Asiana staff said they made a special exception just this once for him, despite Hryhorec having followed the policy completely. It is also worth noting that the airline had already been informed about the details of his situation before the flight via his travel agent.
A widespread failure
Asiana Airlines’ failure to swiftly organize itself, communicate internally, and abide by its own policy is a testament to an overarching issue within the industry. This is not a unique issue but rather one that is widespread. It underlines that in the airline industry, people with disabilities are largely ignored.
“It just shows me that there’s not a lot of people with disabilities that leave their houses and travel between Japan and South Korea, and that then sort of answer begs deeper questions. Where are the people with disabilities, and why aren’t they traveling? Are they locked up at home? Or do they have a not even exist to exist in our society?”
Of course, some airlines do better than others. Hryhorec cites Lufthansa as a great example, with Qantas, Qatar Airways, and Asiana lagging at the bottom of his list.
Related
Accessibility: These Are The Best Airlines For Wheelchair Users
These airlines are dedicated to ensuring accessibility and comfort for passengers using wheelchairs.
Accommodating those with disabilities is also a unique business proposition for airlines. Given that nearly 20% of the world’s population lives with a disability, by better accommodating those passengers, training staff accordingly, and ensuring the appropriate facilities are in place, airlines could attract customers that otherwise wouldn’t have the confidence.
Exposing the challenges
When asked, Hryhorec told us his aim with the content he creates on his travels. His answer underpins the significance of the issue at hand but also highlights that the airline industry has not evolved regarding accessibility.
“Something I’ve always been thinking about over the last nearly 10 years was the lack of content out there, giving advice to people with disabilities wanting to plan travel. It’s always been my dream to go and document travel as I’ve done to give people insight and advice, but also create awareness as to what it’s like for people with disabilities.
The idea behind it is to inspire people with disabilities that maybe don’t have the confidence or courage to leave their houses to book a trip and go and see the world but also just to expose as well the challenges we face.”
When asked, Asiana Airlines were not immediately available for a comment. We will update this article with any response.
