Air Travel with Children
by Michelle MeachamEven under the most ideal circumstances, air travel with children can be taxing. When your child has a disability, air travel becomes even more of a challenge. But the sky is not off-limits; although obstacles will be encountered, planning and preparation can result in a safe and comfortable air travel experience.
Planning is key
Planning should begin even before reservations are made and tickets are purchased. Finding ways for children to participate in the vacation planning process can help to assure that arranged activities are appropriate for their interests and abilities. After making flight reservations, confirm seating assignments to guarantee that the family can sit together.
Children often benefit by being prepared for what they might encounter at the airport: crowds of people, security procedures, and the roar of airplanes taking off and landing. Some families have found it useful to visit the airport prior to the planned date of departure.
Flying with mobility aids
Patience and preparation are the best tools for ensuring a safe and pleasant trip with children who use mobility equipment. When making reservations, inform airline representatives of the type of mobility aid a child or teenager uses. Ask about the airline's policies and procedures for handling mobility aids. Procedures vary from airline to airline, and it is important for parents to know how to prepare for the trip and what will typically happen to the equipment.
Foldable manual wheelchairs and other easy-to-store mobility aids can usually be stowed in the closets or other spaces on the aircraft. If the flight is crowded, however, these may be stored in the cargo hold, or belly, of the plane.
Flying with a power wheelchair or scooter presents unique challenges and requires extra consideration by both families and airlines. This discussion should begin when reservations are made. Know the dimensions of your child's chair; its height determines whether it can be transported in an upright position in the airplane's cargo hold or if it must be disassembled. It is also important to specify whether the chair uses wet-cell or gel batteries, as this will determine whether the batteries will be removed prior to shipment.
Families traveling with power chairs or scooters should try to give the airline 48 hours advance notice and arrive at the airport a minimum of one hour prior to the scheduled time of departure, so the ground crew will have time to properly prepare the equipment for shipment. Before leaving for the airport, label the chair with the type of battery it uses and attach a copy of the manufacturer's written instructions for disassembly and reassembly. These instructions are helpful to ground crews at both departure and destination points.
When reaching the security check on the way to the gate, parents may request a private security check. A security officer will accompany the family to another room where he or she will inspect their luggage and the equipment. Many families find these private security checks less stressful than leaving bags waiting on the conveyor belt, with a line of impatient people forming behind, while a parent holds the child with a disability as the security officer inspects the wheelchair.
At the gate, parents should receive a baggage claim tag for the equipment. Then they can wheel the child to the end of the jetway, where airline personnel will help transfer the child to an aisle chair.
At that point, the airline's ground crew will begin preparing the chair for shipment. If the wheelchair uses a spillable wet-cell battery and cannot be stored in an upright position, Department of Transportation (DOT) rules require its removal and storage in an approved battery box. The acid-like substance in a wet-cell battery is considered hazardous material, and a spill could create a problem.
Batteries should not be separated from power mobility equipment unless it is necessary to meet DOT hazardous materials rules. If the chair can be loaded, stored, secured, and unloaded in an upright position, DOT prohibits removal of the battery, regardless of type. Some airlines feel it's better to err on the side of caution and may have a policy of removing all batteries, both spillable and nonspillable. Parents can challenge such policies, because they frequently result in the unnecessary removal of batteries, which increases the potential for damage to both batteries and chairs.
At your destination, the equipment should be waiting by the time all passengers have disembarked. If disassembled for transport, it should be reassembled with the battery attached. All mobility aids must be returned in their original condition.
Know your rights
The 1990 DOT regulations on enforcement of the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) require that individuals with disabilities "receive consistent and nondiscriminatory treatment when traveling by air." Discrimination might include refusal to allow a person with a disability to board the plane, requiring that a passenger with a disability be accompanied by an attendant, refusing to allow a service animal to travel in the cabin area, or refusing to make an aisle chair available. Again, many problems can be avoided by informing the airline of a child's specific needs in advance.
If parents encounter what they believe is a violation of the ACAA, their first step is typically a discussion with the airline's complaints resolution official (CRO). Contact can take place at any point, even during the reservation process. Parents can ask any gate agent to summon a CRO; one has to be available at all times. The CRO is empowered to act on behalf of the airline he or she represents; only a pilot can overrule a CRO decision, and an overrule must be based only on safety considerations.
If discussion with the CRO does not result in a satisfactory resolution of the problem, parents can request a written response from the CRO. Later, if a written complaint to the airline is submitted, this response should be included, along with all other pertinent information, including the CRO's name and the date of the incident in question. The law requires an airline to answer any written complaint within 30 days of receipt, but it is not obliged to respond to any complaint dated more than 45 days after the alleged violation.
When filing a written complaint, notify DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection Division (400 Seventh St. SW, Rm. 10405, Washington, DC 20590; 202/366-5957, voice; 202/755-7687, TTY). Parents also have the option to file formal complaints and civil law suits. The above suggestions may exceed the requirements of the ACAA, but the more prepared a parent is, the easier the trip will be. For more information on your rights under the ACAA, call the Paralyzed Veterans of America at (800) 424-8200, ext. 709, and request this free brochure: The Air Carrier Access Act: Make it Work for You.
