Frontier Airlines plane seen at Cancun International Airport. on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, at Cancun International Airport, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Arthur Widak | Photo only | Getty Images
The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 requires airlines to provide a wheelchair at the airport for passengers with disabilities. The problem, however, is that many travelers fake it Frontier Airlines said CEO Barry Biffle.
“There is massive, rampant abuse of special services. There are people who use wheelchair assistance who don’t need it at all,” Biffle said Thursday at a luncheon at the Wings Club in New York.
He said he has seen some Frontier flights where 20 people were carried in wheelchairs upon departure, with only three using them upon arrival.
“We heal so many people,” he joked.
Biffle wasn’t talking about travelers’ personal wheelchairs, but rather the service airlines provide when travelers arrive at the airport.
Every time a customer requests a wheelchair, it costs the airline between $30 and $35, Biffle said, and misuse of the service results in delays for travelers who actually need assistance.
“Everyone who needs it should be entitled to it, but if you park in a handicapped spot, your car will be towed and you will be fined,” he told CNBC. “There should be the same punishment for abusing these services.”
Biffle isn’t the only executive to complain about travelers falsely claiming they need wheelchair access at the airport.
In July 2022, John Holland-Kaye, the then CEO of London’s Heathrow Airport, told LBC Radio amid staff shortages that some travelers were “using wheelchair assistance to try and fast-track through the airport.”
“If you go on TikTok, this is one of the travel hacks that people recommend,” he said. “Please, do not do that. We must protect service for the people who need it most.”
John Morris, a triple amputee and founder of WheelchairTravel.org, noted that there are reasons why some travelers need a wheelchair on the outward journey but not upon arrival. For example, they might need help getting through a large airport like in Atlanta or New York City, but this is not the case with smaller facilities.
“Disability affects people in many different ways,” he said.
“I think there’s a good argument that perpetrators should face consequences, but I’m not sure how we do that in a society where our disabilities don’t.” [always] visible,” said Morris.
Earlier this year, the Transportation Department proposed tougher rules aimed at preventing damage to wheelchairs by airport handlers and ensuring “prompt assistance” to travelers with disabilities getting on and off planes.
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2024-05-23 23:20:15
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