Disabled Travel – How to Maximize your Trip and Minimize Your Worries When Flying With a Wheelchair

When you need to use a wheelchair to get around, the thought of flying in a commercial airliner can understandably cause a lot of anxiety and even fear. Damage to the wheelchair is always a possibility, you may get hurt during the transfers to and from the aisle chair, your wheelchair may be delivered late to the jet way upon arrival, or the seats in the plane may be too uncomfortable because they don’t recline far enough or there is not enough leg room. But if some steps are taken, you can minimize the chance of anything adverse happening when you fly, and can help to ensure a safe, successful trip.

Tips for booking a flight

If at all possible book a direct flight, or at least minimize the number of layovers. Fewer plane changes mean fewer mishaps are likely to happen to your wheelchair or your body. If you must schedule a connecting flight, make sure you allow a large buffer of time in between flights so that any mishaps in delivering your wheelchair will not cause you to miss your flight. As a non ambulatory person you will be the last passenger to leave the airplane and it may take some time before your wheelchair is brought to the jet way. On occasion I have waited up to an hour before I was taken off the plane, and once I arrived so late to the baggage claim area that my luggage had been stolen. And missed flights can be a large problem for a disabled person using a wheelchair – we don’t have the same flexibility to do unplanned overnight stays as a non-disabled person due to the special needs involved.

Traveling in coach is really uncomfortable for me and I try to upgrade to business class whenever I can. Business class is expensive but I use a credit card that accrues airline miles that allows me to upgrade to business or first class. The seats are much more comfortable in business class because they recline further and there is more leg room, especially in the first row. You are also more likely to get extra help in business class when boarding – including assistance with carrying and storing bags and in securing extra space for a medical equipment bag and wheelchair parts.

If you travel coach, I recommend you request bulkhead seating when booking your flight. Bulkhead seats have the most leg room in the coach section and persons with a disability typically are given priority to obtain those seats, especially when traveling with a service animal. To find out where the bulkhead seats are or any other seat you might prefer, check out www.seatguru.com. This website shows a seat map for every airplane model used by each major airline carrier. To find out which specific airplane you will be flying on you can check your flight reservation, which will provide this information.

Inform the airline about your special needs

I always call the airline a few days before any flight to convey my particular special needs – traveling in a motorized wheelchair – to ensure that all is properly recorded in the airline’s computer system. At check in I do the same again to reiterate that I need to be transferred to an aisle chair by two strong people in the jet way before boarding and that my wheelchair needs to be delivered to the jet way at arrival. During the flight, about half an hour before landing I ask one of the flight attendants to notify the pilot that my wheelchair needs to be brought up to the jet way along with an aisle chair and two strong persons to transfer me. The pilot will radio the airport and relay my needs to them so that the personnel at the gate are fully prepared for my arrival. This reduces the possibility of having to remain in my airline seat for an extended period of time waiting for assistance to arrive.

Even with these steps, if the airport does not have an elevator near the arrival gate it still may take quite awhile before the wheelchair arrives at the gate. In some instances, an airport staff person may need to completely exit the terminal and re-enter through security to bring the wheelchair to the arrival gate. If this will be the case, you may save time by suggesting that the wheelchair be brought up by an airplane catering truck, which has a lift that can deliver the wheelchair directly to the passenger area of the airplane. I have used that suggestion twice and it saved me significant time in both cases.

Make your wheelchair flight proof

I never take my primary wheelchair, which is an expensive standing wheelchair I absolutely don’t want to get damaged, when I fly. Instead, I travel in my backup wheelchair, a Quickie S-646 that is still in decent condition even though it is seven years old.

I always make sure that my wheelchair looks clean when I fly. A clean wheelchair is likely to be treated with more respect by airport personnel during transport from the jet way to the cargo area. Just human nature!

Before we leave for the airport, my wife and I make sure that no electrical wires are hanging loose off the wheelchair. If we do discover any lose wires, we tighten them securely to the wheelchair frame with wire ties. By leaving wires hanging loose, you will increase the risk they get ripped off during handling when stored in the cargo hold. It would be terrible to arrive and find an inoperable wheelchair, so this is an important step!

I always attach a laminated sheet of paper with a picture of myself and my service dog to the seating panel and the back of my chair when I fly. The paper also contains instructions for how to switch from manual to automatic operation and a note asking handlers to be careful because the wheelchair serves as my legs. If the native language of the country of destination isn’t English, I also provide the translated instructions. This personalizes the chair and the chair handlers tend to be more careful when they realize that a person depends on the chair to get around. It seems to help because my wheelchair has never been damaged yet when flying.

Wet-cell batteries need to be disconnected to protect the terminals against electrical shorting because they are considered spillable. On the other hand, dry-cell and gel-cell batteries are considered non-spillable, have fewer requirements for handling, and don’t need to be disconnected. Be sure you know your type of batteries before you fly.

If your wheelchair equipment does not fit upright through the aircraft cargo compartment door, the batteries have to be removed and will be transported in a special battery box that the airline provides to meet all federal “dangerous goods” handling requirements. Personally, I have never run into a situation where I was asked to remove the batteries.

You can check your wheelchair at the ticket counter or the gate. I always check my wheelchair at the gate because it avoids having to do another transfer to a wheelchair provided by the airport and because it is uncomfortable for me to sit in any other wheelchair but my own.

My wife takes off all removable wheelchair parts such as footrests, armrests, headrest, seat cushion, and the electronic control after I have been transferred to the aisle chair during boarding, and we take these parts in a carry-on bag on the plane. Unfortunately this is extra work for my wife who has to do this under stressful conditions while people are watching and passengers are waiting to board, but by doing this we ensure that all of those parts are not damaged.

Ensure your medical supplies and equipment are not lost or damaged

Be prepared to deal with adversities as much as possible in case disaster strikes. It is much better to have things and not need them than to need things and not have them. As a C5/C6 quadriplegic I am dependent on having certain medical supplies and pieces of equipment such as catheters, a seating cushion, a Hoyer lift, etc readily available on a daily basis. I recommend that you keep any essential medical supplies with you at all times because losing these could make an overnight stay very unpleasant. We always pack a separate carry-on bag with all my medical supplies and small pieces of equipment, and I sit on my wheelchair cushion during flight.

It is a good practice to maintain a checklist of all the medical supplies and pieces of equipment you need to take with you when you stay overnight. I also make sure I take extras of the most critical items such as a spare leg bag in case something breaks. In fact, I have accumulated duplicates of everything I need to take with me over the years, which allows us to pack days ahead of our departure date.

I use a Hoyer lift to perform my transfers between my wheelchair and the bed in a hotel. A Hoyer lift is a big, heavy, awkward piece of equipment that is hard to handle as baggage when flying. Just transporting it from the car to the ticket counter is a hassle.

During my last flight to Europe to visit my parents a wheel broke of off the Hoyer lift, rendering it inoperable. Luckily, an old childhood friend of mine is a handyman who works at a vacation resort for people with disabilities and he was able to add a similar kind of wheel back on the day of my arrival. After that incident we decided to leave the Hoyer lift with my parents to avoid this from happening again the next time we visit them. If you have a distant relative or friend you visit frequently, it might be worthwhile to permanently keep a Hoyer lift at their residence if you need to use one, if that is an option.

When flying domestically, you may want to look into renting a Hoyer lift from a local medical supply store rather than risk losing or damaging the Hoyer lift you own. We rented a Hoyer lift during our most recent Walt Disney World vacation for $150 for two weeks. It was delivered to the hotel before we arrived and was picked up after we left. I definitely consider that $150 money well spent!  It meant we didn’t need to worry about transporting a heavy piece of equipment, and we also didn’t have to worry about it possibly breaking.

Protect your exposure to bodily vulnerabilities

I always sit on my own wheelchair cushion while flying to avoid a pressure sore which can develop while sitting on a hard airplane seat for too long. The seat cushion I use is a Roho and it inflates at higher altitudes due to the change in air pressure. Therefore I ask my wife to let some air out after take-off and we add air back in when we land.

As a paralyzed C5/C6 quadriplegic I don’t have full control over emptying my bladder and bowels. Obviously, bladder or bowel accidents are to be avoided while flying at all costs. Such a mishap would be extremely embarrassing and hard to take care of on the plane because you are basically stuck in your seat from take-off to landing. Using the on-board bathrooms is not an option because they are way too small and not accessible to accommodate a paralyzed person.

As a precaution, I eat less than I normally do during the two days before I fly and I avoid any foods I know that would irritate my intestines. I use an external condom catheter and a leg bag for urine drainage and we monitor my leg bag frequently during flight to make sure it doesn’t get too full. We also carry a colored bottle with us on the plane to capture the urine when we empty my leg bag. But just in case disaster strikes, I do wear incontinence briefs when I fly to keep a potential bladder or bowel accident contained. Luckily I haven’t experienced any such problems yet.

Going through airport security

As a wheelchair user it is obvious you can not pass through the standard airport metal detectors. Instead, Security Officers will visually and physically inspect your wheelchair and perform an explosive trace detection sample of the cushion. These inspections will be conducted while you remain in your wheelchair if you indicate that you cannot get out of your wheelchair.

Any bags hanging on your chair must be taken off to be X-rayed. Expect that both you and your wheelchair will be thoroughly inspected, and be prepared to lean forward when asked by the security personnel – pending your situation you may need someone to help you with that. The main thing to keep in mind is that you will need to allow for extra time for security checks when planning your arrival time at the airport.

It is always a good idea to ask the Security Officer to monitor your accessible property, mobility aids and devices during the screening process and reunite you with them once X-ray inspection is complete to prevent that anything gets lost or stolen.

If you will go through the metal detectors with your service dog, make sure your dog is not wearing tags or anything else that might set off the detector or else you will both be searched. And be aware that your dog must still be on a collar or harness and leash at all times, even when passing through the metal detector.

Transferring to an aisle chair

An aisle chair, sometimes also referred to as a boarding chair, is a specially designed narrow wheelchair for non-ambulatory passengers to use in reaching their seat when boarding and deplaning an aircraft. Make sure you request this service when making reservations and again when checking in so that the equipment will be available at your departure gate. In my case I also need assistance with transferring between the aisle chair and my wheelchair or the airplane seat why at check in I request two strong people for transfers at the gate.

Every aisle chair I have sat in has been very narrow and uncomfortable. Some of them don’t even have arm rests. They all have seat belts but even after being belted in I usually feel unsafe because I hardly have any balance. To remedy that I bring my own Velcro straps to provide additional security for my legs and upper body. One time my left leg fell of off the footrest of the aisle chair while they moved me through the aisle on the plane, my foot began dragging on the floor and my entire leg was twisted severely. A few hours later, my knee was significantly swollen, and it took several weeks to heal. Since that incident, I always wrap a strap around the lower portion of my legs to secure them to the aisle chair’s footrest.

Also be aware that some aisle chairs do not recline at all. You will be sitting straight upright and for me that can be quite uncomfortable. Some aisle chairs can be tilted back and in that case I always ask the handlers to do so during the transport procedure, to make the ride to and from the airplane seat more comfortable.

Be sure to instruct the people who perform the transfer as to how you would like to be lifted between your wheelchair or the airplane seat and the aisle chair to ensure that you are not injured. Don’t take for granted that they know the best way to transfer you because every disabled person is different. I also let them know how much I weigh so they know what to expect and I ask the strongest person to lift me from the back. And if you feel like one of the handlers doesn’t appear strong enough to lift you safely, insist that another person is sent out to assist instead. Your safety comes first!

If you have no upper body balance like me, let the handlers know that you will feel like a sack of potatoes to them. This is especially important right after you have been lifted on the aisle chair before your seat belts have been tightened because the handlers need to give you extra support to prevent you from falling off the aisle chair.

On a funny note, make sure you undo your seat belt before transferring from your airplane seat to the aisle chair. On a few occasions I forgot, which stunned the people who tried to lift me out of my seat because I wasn’t moving no matter how hard they tried to lift me!

Sitting safely in your airplane seat

Because I have no upper body balance, a single seat belt around my waist leaves me feeling insecure. I can especially sense this during landing when the pilot puts on the breaks since I have a hard time preventing myself from falling forward. Lately I have been bringing an extra Velcro strap that is long enough to go around my chest and the back of my seat to keep my upper body more secure, and this has really helped. In addition, I have another strap to tie my feet to the bottom of my seat, and this prevents my legs from kicking forward due to leg spasms caused by severe vibrations during takeoff and landing or turbulence during flight.

Be prepared when you fly

Flying as a person confined to a wheelchair is a hassle for both you and your companion, but the process will be much smoother if you are well prepared before you get on board the airplane. Don’t just assume that the airline and airport personnel are ready to handle your special needs. Take control over your own situation by conveying your needs when you book your flight and again when you check in. Having a checklist for the medical necessities you need to carry with you and making preparations in advance for your particular needs will reduce the potential problems.

On a positive note, I find that both airline and airport personnel are better trained to accommodate persons with a disability now than in the past. Don’t let that prevent you from being fully prepared yourself! It is always important to remember that you are still dealing with humans and people make mistakes no matter how well they are trained. Only you can completely know exactly what you need, and only you can take full responsibility for your particular requirements and safety. But if you are well prepared, you can still enjoy all the benefits of flying and travel.

And if any problem arises, be aware that you are always allowed to speak to the CRO (Complaint Resolution Official). Each airline is required to have a CRO available at all times of operation, even if only by phone.

Have a great flight!

Useful references:

Seating layouts at Seat Guru – http://www.seatguru.com/

U.S. Department of Transportation – Air Accessibility –  http://www.dotcr.ost.dot.gov/asp/airacc.asp

Aviation Consumer Protection Division – Passengers with Disabilities –  http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/rules.htm

Transportation Security Administration – Mobility Disabilities –  http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1371.shtm

Transportation Security Administration – Service Dogs –  http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1056.shtm

Flying with Disability –  http://www.flying-with-disability.org/index.html

Hearing disabilities at security checkpoints –  http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/204

Mobility disabilities at security checkpoints –  http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/205\

Visual disabilities at security checkpoints –  http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/206

Service animals at security checkpoints –  http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/203