#barriers

After analysing my survey, which I put to 97 people with disabilities, I discovered the amount of dissatisfaction and issues with air-travel, I decided to dedicate my last post to the problems that wheelchair users face when trying to fly. Having a disability should not be a barrier to air travel and holidays.

Despite people with disabilities planning ahead and giving the airlines as much notice as possible still we hear different stories about broken or lost wheelchairs, or even leaving people with disabilities on the tarmac (Coffey, 2017; Levy, 2011; Malm, 2014; Taylor, 2018). For instance we all were shocked when Justin Levene dragged himself through Luton Airport as his wheelchair was left behind (Coleman, 2018), or when The security correspondent, Frank Gardner left alone on plane at Heathrow airport for the second times within six months, he has also criticised Heathrow for repeatedly losing his wheelchair and forcing him to stay on the plane for ages after everyone else has disembarked (BBC, 2018).

photo credit: BBC News

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On a day to day basis, people with disabilities live in a largely disabling environment. (Lovelock & Lovelock, 2013)

Studies in tourism industry show lower participation rate for people with disabilities, however, when people with disability do travel, their experiences are still highly restricted by different types of barriers like physical accessible barriers such as transportation, inaccessible accommodation, activities and destinations (Lovelock & Lovelock, 2013). Moreover,(Church & Coles, 2007) indicates that 40% of people with disabilities cannot go on holiday during any one year for various reasons.

Figure 1: based on the result from question 9 of the Tourism and Disability Questionnaire

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I Dream Too

Inaccessible Aviation

Disabling Environment