Robyn Powell, an attorney for the National Council on Disability, travels a lot for work. In 2014, United Airlines, US Airways, Jet Blue and Southwest broke her wheelchair. On one flight, a JetBlue captain openly blamed a delay in departure on a “cumbersome wheelchair.” On her return flight, airline workers broke the wheelchair. Powell’s experience is not unusual. On Dec. 16, US Airways dropped George Washington University professor David Mitchell’s wheelchair on the tarmac during a trip to Hawaii. After almost two weeks of a social media campaign, the airline agreed to provide a replacement. But in the interim, Mitchell was stuck with an uncomfortable rental. Theri Pickens, a professor of English at Bates Colleges, has had her scooter broken by “every airline except Delta,” she tweeted. Delta breaks plenty of wheelchairs and other mobility devices, though. Of the 530 formal damage complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2013, 28 were against Delta. Moreover, as the Center for Disability Rights’ Leah Smith said in an opinion piece for the group last year, such complaints represent only a small fraction of actual incidents. “An airline receives 100 complaints for every single formal complaint,” she wrote. “Meaning that the airlines, in fact, received closer to 53,000 complaints for damages in 2013.” Over the last few weeks, I spoke to at least 50 wheelchair users whose mobility devices have either been broken or damaged. Frequent fliers who use wheelchairs agreed that the problem occurs too often. Many have given up on flying altogether. The result is a less inclusive society, with wheelchair users denying themselves the benefits of air travel. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Accidents happen, but they could be reduced with better training and use of new technologies. Ground crews should be trained on safe loading and storage of mobility devices. More important, airline workers need to listen to wheelchair users. Too often, people with disabilities are treated like objects or children, hustled out of the way, patronized and ignored.

Broken chairs

Under the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, people with disabilities have many protections when they travel. For example, airlines are required to fix or replace damaged mobility devices. To be clear, airlines do replace broken wheelchairs, regardless of the cost (powered wheelchairs and scooters can cost tens of thousands of dollars). Still, even when the customer experience is good, which does not always happen, wheelchair users fear future incidents. For many, a damaged mobility device presents challenges even a huge check from the airlines cannot solve. Rented wheelchairs often do not work well, as every chair needs to be carefully customized. And assistive technologies that act as an extension of the body cannot be quickly or easily replaced. Besides, chairs can be replaced, but traumas die hard. Users liken the loss of a wheelchair to losing a part of their body. JetBlue offered Powell $150 in credit, but she wasn’t looking for money. She wanted accountability for what she described as the “equivalent to having my legs broken.” Her complaint is not new. In 2006, United Airlines broke David Gayes’ wheelchair and offered his family $200 in credit. “While the travel certificates are a nice gesture, the offer is hollow without assurances that we can safely travel in the future,” his mother, Janet Gayes, wrote to the airline. Wheelchair users are looking for reforms, not vouchers or even apologies.

The way forward

Airlines and disability advocates are working on two possible solutions: Wheelchair restraint systems in the cabin and better training for ground crews.

Too many people who require mobility devices fly in fear of what they’ll find when they land, or even worse, they just don’t fly.