The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 requires airlines to offer wheelchairs to passengers with disabilities on the airport. The problem, nevertheless, is that many travelers fake this. Border airlines Said CEO Barry Biffle.
“There is a massive, rampant abuse of special services. There are people who use wheelchair aids even though they don't need them at all,” Biffle said Thursday at a luncheon on the Wings Club in New York.
He said he has seen some Frontier flights where 20 people were brought in wheelchairs upon departure and only three used them upon arrival.
“We heal so many people,” he joked.
Biffle was not talking about travelers' personal wheelchairs, but moderately concerning the service airlines provide to travelers after they arrive on the airport.
Each time a customer requests a wheelchair, it costs the airline between $30 and $35, Biffle said, and misuse of the service causes delays for travelers who really want assistance.
“Anyone who needs it should be entitled to it, but if you park in a handicapped spot, your car will be towed and you'll get a fine,” he told CNBC. “There should be the same penalty for abusing these services.”
Biffle shouldn’t be the one manager to complain about travelers on the airport falsely claiming they need a wheelchair.
In July 2022, John Holland-Kaye, then CEO of London’s Heathrow Airport, said Radio and tv stations Due to staff shortages, some travelers tried to “use wheelchairs to get through the airport faster.”
“If you use TikTok, that's one of the travel tips that people recommend,” he said. “Please don't do that. We need to protect the service for the people who need it most.”
John Morris, triple amputee and founding father of WheelchairTravel.orgnoted that there are the explanation why some travelers may have a wheelchair on the outbound flight but not on arrival. For example, they might need assistance getting through a big airport like Atlanta or New York City but not in smaller facilities.
“Disability affects people in many different ways,” he said.
“I think there are good arguments for abusers to face consequences, but I am not sure how we do that in a society where our disabilities are not [always] visible,” said Morris.
At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Transport proposed stricter Regulate The aim is to prevent damage to wheelchairs by ground handlers at airports and to ensure “immediate assistance” for travellers with disabilities when boarding and disembarking from the aircraft.
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