Abusing wheelchair access in airports

[Anonymous]

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?

1) Not all disabilities are visible.
2) Being "able bodied" in the sense of being able to drag your back from the curb to check-in is not the same as being able to stand for the length of time that security takes, and then walk all the way to your gate. I am able bodied and some of the airports are crazy spread out.
3) Who is going to determine "actual physical need" - the judgy person behind them in line at security running to post online? You know that keeping a doctor on payroll to conduct assessments is going to be more expensive than paying the guys that push people to the gates, right?
4) What do you care about airports being "too nice" to elderly people? How is this a problem for you?

[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.

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.

So, what happened AFTER they walked off the plane? Were they racing sprints? Or waiting for their wheelchair to show up? You don’t really know, do you? Again, walking off the plane and maybe even walking to the nearest rest room doesn’t also mean being able to navigate a large airport.

Also many would be at their home airport at FLL so they can take all day getting home and stop for breaks getting through the airport as needed. Most wheelchair users wish they did need one, in my experience.

[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.

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.

The point is there will no longer be an advantage to getting on the plane first. You seem to have no understanding of the current situation on SW.

[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.

My Dad does much less (hired car to outside check in to wheel chair) but, again, disable doesn't mean paralyzed. There are lots of kinds of lower mobility.

[Anonymous]

My able bodied mom has dementia and can get lost. Wheelchair access works great for her so that she can be escorted from place to place without wandering off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My able bodied mom has dementia and can get lost. Wheelchair access works great for her so that she can be escorted from place to place without wandering off.

You let someone with dementia fly alone? Seriously?

[Anonymous]

I don’t get the annoyance. My mom needs a wheelchair. It’s a vulnerable and humbling thing needing a stranger to push you around. It’s not fun! I’m so grateful it’s an option for her or she could not travel at all. Could she get up and walk a little at the end of a trip? Yes, definitely. She can walk for 10 mins and then gets very tired. It’s really bizarre to judge people over this.

[Anonymous]

Other than the claims of abuse for early boarding on Southwest under its soon to be defunct seating system, I don’t why anyone would care if someone else received wheelchair assistance. It’s just not anyone else’s business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the annoyance. My mom needs a wheelchair. It’s a vulnerable and humbling thing needing a stranger to push you around. It’s not fun! I’m so grateful it’s an option for her or she could not travel at all. Could she get up and walk a little at the end of a trip? Yes, definitely. She can walk for 10 mins and then gets very tired. It’s really bizarre to judge people over this.

The annoyance is mostly regarding Southwest, where it is a distinct boarding advantage and therefore ripe for abuse. I agree on other airlines it's no advantage which is why you would be confused if you don't use Southwest.

But as many people have stated Southwest is converting to regular seat assignments/boarding so the advantage will end anyway.

[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.

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.

The point is there will no longer be an advantage to getting on the plane first. You seem to have no understanding of the current situation on SW.

Actually, I am the PP and someone who flies with people with disabilities both as part of my job and with my family.

When we fly SW, the process is easy, you identify your disability and needs at the gate, and they are quickly accommodated. When we fly other airlines we need to wait forever in a phone queue to explain the needs and then get reassigned to whatever we need. Often the airline messes up and there need to be changes at the gate. It’s a slow process that results in people having to change seats. It’s significantly worse for the people with disabilities, with no actual advantage for people without disabilities, but sometimes it makes them feel better because they see people with disabilities the same way OP does, with disdain.

[Anonymous]

Southwest has cheap, trashy, rulebenders on it. I won't fly it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My able bodied mom has dementia and can get lost. Wheelchair access works great for her so that she can be escorted from place to place without wandering off.

You let someone with dementia fly alone? Seriously?

Not the pp, but who said anything about flying alone? Wheel chair is waiting for flight and the mom sits in it and it keeps her from wandering off. I’m the pp who has a wheelchair for my kid who fractured her ankle. It’s not like my kid was flying alone…but there’d still an attendant who pushes the chair.

[Anonymous]

This is very common for older visitors from other countries, yes, mostly from India. Their adult children reserve these chairs as they do not speak the language and can't find a way to the gate.
The ones I see are generally older, and I am not sure they could actually find their way around at all.
This is a known fact to most travelers op, I guess you do not travel much?

[Anonymous]

People amaze me. I’d love to have my health back….

[Anonymous]

Just because some disabilities are invisible does not mean there is no abuse.