Abusing wheelchair access in airports

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have seen many able bodied older adults requesting and using wheelchairs to get gates from check-in. Mostly they seem to use this as a way to get through security and also not having to read or follow directions. I think the airports and airlines should start charging a fee to use this unless they are really in need due to actual physical need. What do you guys think?

Regardless of whether it’s a genuine physical need or abusing the system, I don’t really understand why there isn’t an automatic cost for requiring these additional services. How is it any different from having to pay extra for a minor traveling solo or a larger person having to pay more for an extra seat?

Because it is illegal under the ADA. You can't pass on the costs of accessibility to disabled people. Come on now.

The accessibility clause requires that the airplanes/airports be able reasonably accommodate people requiring access via wheelchairs, etc but not that they pay for the services required for someone to push said wheelchair.

+1
And the same way general populations are tired of subsidizing unhealthy lifestyles in insurance pools and hospital costs, it's going to catch up with us. Everything is always extremes until something snaps. This is why we can't have nice things.

There are people who suck down sodas, eat garbage, don't excercise and end up wheelchair bound and everyone else pays for them.
(I know that's not the story, but that's how simplified it is to some)

I think we can't have nice things because people lack compassion.

No. It’s too much compassion.

The nice thing would be a society where people actually care enough about access for people with disabilities to where some minor financial or logistical inefficiency isn't being whined about, a society where everyone has value and people aren't simply "me, me, me" all the time.

In such a society, people wouldn’t fake a disability to get expedited access.
I do think it’s likely a real minority because the current system is really crappy and you often have to wait very long times for a chair…..so I really don’t think many people are using it just for convenience. My mom has interstitial lung disease and can walk short distances but would not be able to walk through an airport.

People were doing this with Southwest to board early and pick a set. You’d get to the gate and there would be a line of 35 people in wheelchairs and maybe two of them would use one to get off.

I've never seen this and I fly SW all the time.

DP. Very common on routes from northern states to FLL, especially in the winter. All the patients are age 70+. “Miracle flights” they are called.

[Anonymous]

This thread is revolting. Many people with disabilities would give anything to be able to walk to their gate. Being pushed in a wheelchair feels very vulnerable, especially when someone is accustomed to “hiding” their disability due to perceived stigma (as with MS, and other neurological diseases that aren’t always apparent to others). There are many “invisible” disabilities and medical conditions that cause mobility impairment.

Begrudging people this accommodation is a disgrace. I recognize that OP is only referring to people who are faking it, but how could she possibly know? She’s basically saying that she scrutinizes people who are getting the wheelchair, side/eying them and wondering if they are deserving. It would be a very small percentage of the population who would actually be attempting to game the system.

I cannot imagine being small-minded enough to spend even a moment thinking about this. But it indicates that OP probably carries around a lot of petty grievances that diminish her well-being, so I should probably be sympathetic. But I’m not.

Disability is not uncommon, and any one of us could need that wheelchair at any time. I would focus your energy elsewhere, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP - I am saying this because I have seen this at IAD. A person who can walk from the parking lot to check-in counter, stand in line to get checked in and for their boarding pass, then turn around and request a wheelchair to get to the gate? When another person who might be really in need of one have to wait? I am not saying stop the service, but if you really aren't in need of a wheelchair then pay a fee to use it. I believe the people who push the wheelchairs are volunteers? I might be wrong.

I am amazed that you can’t think of any disabilities that would make a person able to do some walking, but not a lot of walking.

This is me OP. I can walk some, but I can't walk all the way through the airport to the gate without stopping several times to rest.

[Anonymous]

Should’ve said that being pushed in a wheelchair *can* feel very vulnerable.^^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP - I am saying this because I have seen this at IAD. A person who can walk from the parking lot to check-in counter, stand in line to get checked in and for their boarding pass, then turn around and request a wheelchair to get to the gate? When another person who might be really in need of one have to wait? I am not saying stop the service, but if you really aren't in need of a wheelchair then pay a fee to use it. I believe the people who push the wheelchairs are volunteers? I might be wrong.

I can stand and walk for about 10 minutes without any issues. Then my knees lock. That’s why i always ask for a wheelchair at IAD. However seeing me you would think there’s nothing wrong with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen many able bodied older adults requesting and using wheelchairs to get gates from check-in. Mostly they seem to use this as a way to get through security and also not having to read or follow directions. I think the airports and airlines should start charging a fee to use this unless they are really in need due to actual physical need. What do you guys think?

Regardless of whether it’s a genuine physical need or abusing the system, I don’t really understand why there isn’t an automatic cost for requiring these additional services. How is it any different from having to pay extra for a minor traveling solo or a larger person having to pay more for an extra seat?

Because it is illegal under the ADA. You can't pass on the costs of accessibility to disabled people. Come on now.

The accessibility clause requires that the airplanes/airports be able reasonably accommodate people requiring access via wheelchairs, etc but not that they pay for the services required for someone to push said wheelchair.

+1
And the same way general populations are tired of subsidizing unhealthy lifestyles in insurance pools and hospital costs, it's going to catch up with us. Everything is always extremes until something snaps. This is why we can't have nice things.

There are people who suck down sodas, eat garbage, don't excercise and end up wheelchair bound and everyone else pays for them.
(I know that's not the story, but that's how simplified it is to some)

I think we can't have nice things because people lack compassion.

No. It’s too much compassion.

The nice thing would be a society where people actually care enough about access for people with disabilities to where some minor financial or logistical inefficiency isn't being whined about, a society where everyone has value and people aren't simply "me, me, me" all the time.

In such a society, people wouldn’t fake a disability to get expedited access.
I do think it’s likely a real minority because the current system is really crappy and you often have to wait very long times for a chair…..so I really don’t think many people are using it just for convenience. My mom has interstitial lung disease and can walk short distances but would not be able to walk through an airport.

People were doing this with Southwest to board early and pick a set. You’d get to the gate and there would be a line of 35 people in wheelchairs and maybe two of them would use one to get off.

I've never seen this and I fly SW all the time.

DP. Very common on routes from northern states to FLL, especially in the winter. All the patients are age 70+. “Miracle flights” they are called.

I'm not going to go there, speculating about the physical abilities of 70+ year old senior citizens to navigate a large airport. I would expect this group to have higher than average accessibility needs.

[Anonymous]

When my grandmother was alive she never used a wheelchair in her daily life. Occasionally a cane, usually for stairs. But walking across an airport, especially after flying, would leave her with painful, swollen knees.

By OP's standards I guess that was abuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should’ve said that being pushed in a wheelchair *can* feel very vulnerable.^^

I posted earlier with the leg braces. I had an assistant try to put me on the wrong flight! She would not listen when I tried to tell her. I put a brake on and showed her my boarding pass. She was bound and determined to get me out of the way or something.

[Anonymous]

Even if there’s abuse in the system, I don’t care. Whether 10 people board the southwest flight before you do because they preboarded with people with disabilities….it’s just not a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP - I am saying this because I have seen this at IAD. A person who can walk from the parking lot to check-in counter, stand in line to get checked in and for their boarding pass, then turn around and request a wheelchair to get to the gate? When another person who might be really in need of one have to wait? I am not saying stop the service, but if you really aren't in need of a wheelchair then pay a fee to use it. I believe the people who push the wheelchairs are volunteers? I might be wrong.

For some people yes, that would be the limit of their stamina.

+1
You might have seen me at one time. Walked from the parking garage with my mother to check in. You would have seen me walk to the check in counter as an able bodied person, yup. What you wouldn't have seen is that I was just discharged from the hospital while visiting my mother, was trying to get home, and that walk to the counter took everything I had. You wouldn't have seen the severe vertigo that was so bad that actually thought I was having a stroke and kept me overnight. So yeah, I asked for assistance, and they even let my mom in with a pass to accompany to me to the gate. But yeah, I walked to check in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen many able bodied older adults requesting and using wheelchairs to get gates from check-in. Mostly they seem to use this as a way to get through security and also not having to read or follow directions. I think the airports and airlines should start charging a fee to use this unless they are really in need due to actual physical need. What do you guys think?

Regardless of whether it’s a genuine physical need or abusing the system, I don’t really understand why there isn’t an automatic cost for requiring these additional services. How is it any different from having to pay extra for a minor traveling solo or a larger person having to pay more for an extra seat?

Because it is illegal under the ADA. You can't pass on the costs of accessibility to disabled people. Come on now.

The accessibility clause requires that the airplanes/airports be able reasonably accommodate people requiring access via wheelchairs, etc but not that they pay for the services required for someone to push said wheelchair.

+1
And the same way general populations are tired of subsidizing unhealthy lifestyles in insurance pools and hospital costs, it's going to catch up with us. Everything is always extremes until something snaps. This is why we can't have nice things.

There are people who suck down sodas, eat garbage, don't excercise and end up wheelchair bound and everyone else pays for them.
(I know that's not the story, but that's how simplified it is to some)

I think we can't have nice things because people lack compassion.

No. It’s too much compassion.

The nice thing would be a society where people actually care enough about access for people with disabilities to where some minor financial or logistical inefficiency isn't being whined about, a society where everyone has value and people aren't simply "me, me, me" all the time.

In such a society, people wouldn’t fake a disability to get expedited access.
I do think it’s likely a real minority because the current system is really crappy and you often have to wait very long times for a chair…..so I really don’t think many people are using it just for convenience. My mom has interstitial lung disease and can walk short distances but would not be able to walk through an airport.

People were doing this with Southwest to board early and pick a set. You’d get to the gate and there would be a line of 35 people in wheelchairs and maybe two of them would use one to get off.

I've never seen this and I fly SW all the time.

DP. Very common on routes from northern states to FLL, especially in the winter. All the patients are age 70+. “Miracle flights” they are called.

I'm not going to go there, speculating about the physical abilities of 70+ year old senior citizens to navigate a large airport. I would expect this group to have higher than average accessibility needs.

Did you miss the part where they walk off the plane in FLL (a HUGE airport BTW) needing no assistance whatsoever?

Anyway, it doesn’t matter because Southwest is ending this loophole very soon. For families too. So now disabled people and families will need to pay for seat assignments like everyone else, or accept what they are given.

[Anonymous]

A bigger issue is people with handicap stickers parking in a handicap spot at Costco and then get out and run in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen many able bodied older adults requesting and using wheelchairs to get gates from check-in. Mostly they seem to use this as a way to get through security and also not having to read or follow directions. I think the airports and airlines should start charging a fee to use this unless they are really in need due to actual physical need. What do you guys think?

Regardless of whether it’s a genuine physical need or abusing the system, I don’t really understand why there isn’t an automatic cost for requiring these additional services. How is it any different from having to pay extra for a minor traveling solo or a larger person having to pay more for an extra seat?

Because it is illegal under the ADA. You can't pass on the costs of accessibility to disabled people. Come on now.

The accessibility clause requires that the airplanes/airports be able reasonably accommodate people requiring access via wheelchairs, etc but not that they pay for the services required for someone to push said wheelchair.

+1
And the same way general populations are tired of subsidizing unhealthy lifestyles in insurance pools and hospital costs, it's going to catch up with us. Everything is always extremes until something snaps. This is why we can't have nice things.

There are people who suck down sodas, eat garbage, don't excercise and end up wheelchair bound and everyone else pays for them.
(I know that's not the story, but that's how simplified it is to some)

I think we can't have nice things because people lack compassion.

No. It’s too much compassion.

The nice thing would be a society where people actually care enough about access for people with disabilities to where some minor financial or logistical inefficiency isn't being whined about, a society where everyone has value and people aren't simply "me, me, me" all the time.

In such a society, people wouldn’t fake a disability to get expedited access.
I do think it’s likely a real minority because the current system is really crappy and you often have to wait very long times for a chair…..so I really don’t think many people are using it just for convenience. My mom has interstitial lung disease and can walk short distances but would not be able to walk through an airport.

People were doing this with Southwest to board early and pick a set. You’d get to the gate and there would be a line of 35 people in wheelchairs and maybe two of them would use one to get off.

I've never seen this and I fly SW all the time.

DP. Very common on routes from northern states to FLL, especially in the winter. All the patients are age 70+. “Miracle flights” they are called.

I'm not going to go there, speculating about the physical abilities of 70+ year old senior citizens to navigate a large airport. I would expect this group to have higher than average accessibility needs.

Did you miss the part where they walk off the plane in FLL (a HUGE airport BTW) needing no assistance whatsoever?

Anyway, it doesn’t matter because Southwest is ending this loophole very soon. For families too. So now disabled people and families will need to pay for seat assignments like everyone else, or accept what they are given.

Did you miss the part where people with disabilities, or loved ones with disabilities have multiple expectations for why that might happen?

Southwest will need to do what every other airline does and continue to offer people with disabilities seats that are accessible to them, without an extra fee, plus pre boarding. What will change is that getting them will be harder, which probably makes people who think people with disabilities should suffer happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen many able bodied older adults requesting and using wheelchairs to get gates from check-in. Mostly they seem to use this as a way to get through security and also not having to read or follow directions. I think the airports and airlines should start charging a fee to use this unless they are really in need due to actual physical need. What do you guys think?

Regardless of whether it’s a genuine physical need or abusing the system, I don’t really understand why there isn’t an automatic cost for requiring these additional services. How is it any different from having to pay extra for a minor traveling solo or a larger person having to pay more for an extra seat?

Because it is illegal under the ADA. You can't pass on the costs of accessibility to disabled people. Come on now.

The accessibility clause requires that the airplanes/airports be able reasonably accommodate people requiring access via wheelchairs, etc but not that they pay for the services required for someone to push said wheelchair.

+1
And the same way general populations are tired of subsidizing unhealthy lifestyles in insurance pools and hospital costs, it's going to catch up with us. Everything is always extremes until something snaps. This is why we can't have nice things.

There are people who suck down sodas, eat garbage, don't excercise and end up wheelchair bound and everyone else pays for them.
(I know that's not the story, but that's how simplified it is to some)

I think we can't have nice things because people lack compassion.

No. It’s too much compassion.

The nice thing would be a society where people actually care enough about access for people with disabilities to where some minor financial or logistical inefficiency isn't being whined about, a society where everyone has value and people aren't simply "me, me, me" all the time.

In such a society, people wouldn’t fake a disability to get expedited access.
I do think it’s likely a real minority because the current system is really crappy and you often have to wait very long times for a chair…..so I really don’t think many people are using it just for convenience. My mom has interstitial lung disease and can walk short distances but would not be able to walk through an airport.

People were doing this with Southwest to board early and pick a set. You’d get to the gate and there would be a line of 35 people in wheelchairs and maybe two of them would use one to get off.

I've never seen this and I fly SW all the time.

DP. Very common on routes from northern states to FLL, especially in the winter. All the patients are age 70+. “Miracle flights” they are called.

I'm not going to go there, speculating about the physical abilities of 70+ year old senior citizens to navigate a large airport. I would expect this group to have higher than average accessibility needs.

Did you miss the part where they walk off the plane in FLL (a HUGE airport BTW) needing no assistance whatsoever?

Anyway, it doesn’t matter because Southwest is ending this loophole very soon. For families too. So now disabled people and families will need to pay for seat assignments like everyone else, or accept what they are given.

Did you miss the part where people with disabilities, or loved ones with disabilities have multiple expectations for why that might happen?

Southwest will need to do what every other airline does and continue to offer people with disabilities seats that are accessible to them, without an extra fee, plus pre boarding. What will change is that getting them will be harder, which probably makes people who think people with disabilities should suffer happy.

Southwest is moving to assigned seats so the value of faking it will mostly vanish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP - I am saying this because I have seen this at IAD. A person who can walk from the parking lot to check-in counter, stand in line to get checked in and for their boarding pass, then turn around and request a wheelchair to get to the gate? When another person who might be really in need of one have to wait? I am not saying stop the service, but if you really aren't in need of a wheelchair then pay a fee to use it. I believe the people who push the wheelchairs are volunteers? I might be wrong.

I will say that I have seen a HUGE increase in request for this service over the past years.

You should go to international arrivals one evening, it’s an international increase in demand.

No, the operators are all employees of the airport with badges and walkie talkies.