Travel is something that I have really missed lately due to the Covid19 travel restrictions. But while I love an overseas adventure my least favourite part of the journey is the airplane flight. My experiences have varied greatly as a wheelchair user that requires legroom due to having a fused knee joint. While having a straight leg means I can weight bear and walk using crutches, it can be awful trying to fit in a plane seat!

I feel it is random luck, to get a staff member who knows how to accommodate your disability needs.  There seems to be no uniform procedures, as I am never exactly sure what to expect even when flying with the same airline. Also, I wonder why they don’t reserve seating for people with disabilities at the front of the plane like they do with bulkhead seats for families with young children. 

The worse experience I have had was being denied a boarding pass at check-in and told to “come back when you are better”.  Another time I was told I would have to purchase a second seat to put my leg. Which I was willing to do but the flight had already closed so they just gave me a spare seat. Once flying from Moscow to Rio my wheelchair was not put on the same flight I was on, instead, I had to wait until the next day to get it. I have also had my wheelchair frame crushed on a flight home. The airline bought a new frame but it took some weeks to arrive. 

While I wish I could afford to fly first-class as it would alleviate my leg room issue the new double-deck Airbus planes have first-class upstairs, not even giving people with mobility issues that option! I think this industry needs some major innovation and I recently came across a prototype that allows for people to fly in their own wheelchairs. Similar to accessible taxis, this modified plane seat folds up to allow a manual or power wheelchair to fit in the space and be safely secured to a docking system for take-off and landing. Would being able to fly in your own wheelchair make travel accessible to you? I would love to hear about your own experiences with air travel in the comments. 

About the author:

Susan Seipel is a diverse para-athlete with a background in swimming, equestrian, and is a triple World Champion in the sport of Paracanoe.

She won a Bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and was the first Australian in history to win a medal in Paracanoe at the Paralympic level. Currently, she is training towards the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Outside of sport, Susan is a proud ambassador for the RSPCA Queensland and is passionate about animal welfare, as well as disability issues. 

http://www.susanseipel.com