Traveling By Airplane

With more and more wheelchair travelers are taking to the skies you would
think that airlines would be making improvements to keep pace with the
fast changing demographics of their passengers. Sadly, this is not the case
with all airlines. We can not recommend a favorite airline because in any
given situation any airline can be a villain or a saint to the wheelchair
traveler. Last year there were two separate groups of clients flying on the
same airline at different times of the day. Each met connecting flights at
the same connecting airport. The first group praised the airline for giving
them the best assistance they had ever experienced. Surprisingly, every
member of the second group cursed the same airline for their poor
performance stating "they were the worst." The bottom line of your airlines'
performance depends on the airport staff, the airline staff, and the airline
crew on duty at the time you check into the airport and board your aircraft.

Reconfirm your airline flights with your airline 24-48 hours before any
departure. Flight times and flight numbers are subject to change. Take
painstaking steps to notify your airlines that you are traveling by
wheelchair. Inform them if you are traveling with a manual wheelchair, an
electric wheelchair, or a scooter. When reconfirming your flight, ask the
airline for "maximum assistance" at all airport terminals. Reconfirm your
request for "maximum assistance" when you arrive at the airline ticket
counter.

At the airport, ask the ticket personnel to "gate check" your wheelchair and
obtain a luggage claim receipt for your wheelchair. When you "gate check"
your wheelchair it allows you to roll your wheelchair directly to the fuselage
of the plane where you will either walk to your seat or transfer into an
"aisle chair" for assistance to your seat. Before handing your wheelchair
over to the airline staff, remove your leg supports and portable seat
cushions and carry these into the plane....these do not travel well when
attached to your wheelchair and are likely to be lost. We recommend a
small, nylon sports bag large enough to hold the leg supports that is also
light enough to fold into your carry on luggage when not in use. This light
weight sports bag keeps your leg supports in one place and hopefully
prevents them from falling out of the overhead luggage bin onto
someone's head. If your wheelchair folds, collapse the wheelchair together
and use a small strap or a piece of "duct tape" to hold the sides together.
This process makes for a compact wheelchair that is less likely to be
damaged with airport handling.



By Airplane: Scooters & Electric wheelchairs


Travelers who use scooters and electric wheelchairs should follow all of the
appropriate measures above in additional to other precautions. It is
strongly recommend that your electric wheelchair or scooter be equipped
with "gell cell" or "dry cell" batteries. "Wet cell" batteries, like the one used
in automobiles, are strongly discouraged since airlines must separate
these from your scooter or wheelchair and store them in a leak proof
container.

Scooters: Scooter travelers who "gate check" their scooter should assume
that some member of the airline staff will be appointed to drive your
scooter into the belly of the plane. To protect your scooter, other
passengers and other airline staff we recommend the following steps.
Before handing your scooter over to the airline staff, place a piece of
removable tape on top of the throttle control and secure the throttle control
in the slowest position. This tape should read "Do Not Remove." Make sure
your key, or power pin, is well secured to the scooter. Use a strong, durable
cord to attach your key or control pin. Do not use a rubber band or an
elastic strap to secure your key to the scooter. To secure your key or power
pin to your scooter, we suggest using a 12 or 14 inch "60 or 80 pound steel
leader" obtained from a fishing supply store. And last, remove any
removable baskets and portable seat cushions and carry these into the
plane....these do not travel well when attached to your scooter and are
likely to be lost.

Electric Wheelchairs: Electric wheelchair travelers who "gate check" their
electric wheelchair should assume that some member of the airline staff
will attempt to drive your scooter into the belly of the plane. We suggest
making several extra efforts to prevent anyone from actually driving your
precious and expensive wheelchair. Switch your chairs' transmission into
"neutral" so it can be easily pushed. Unplug the battery connection
between your chair and the battery and place a short piece of electrical
tape over both connector ends. Better yet, if the power cord is easily
removed take it with you in your carry on bag.

If the entire "joystick control" can be easily removed...remove it! It not, try
loosening the knob that positions the joystick control and point the joystick
downward, towards the ground. Or last, unscrew the "joystick knob" from
the control base and carry it with you into the plane. In any event, try to
prevent damage to the joystick! An unprotected joystick is an accident
waiting to happen.




Aisle Chairs

For wheelchair travelers who can not walk, the aisle chair is a familiar
friend. The aisle chair is a skinny, narrow, seat on wheels used to usher
passengers down the aircraft aisle to their seat.

Many airlines have designed "knock down" or "fold down" arm rests
throughout the fuselage of their aircraft to decrease the requests from
every wheelchair traveler wanting a "bulk head seat." Most airlines have
twenty or more requests for each "bulk head seat." Unaccompanied
children, premier fliers, seven-foot tall basketball players, older
passengers with small bladders, and wheelchair travelers request these
seats. "Knock down" armrests help ease the requests for bulkhead
seating. You can not always expect your airlines to store your wheelchair in
the aircraft cabin. Every airline is required by law to store your wheelchair in
the aircraft cabin (providing space is available) but what happens when two
or three wheelchair travelers are onboard the same flight? When we travel
with five or six wheelchairs in our groups onboard the same flights we do
not choose whose wheelchair remains in the cabin and whose travels in the
belly of the plane. The answer is simpleŠeveryone gate checks their
wheelchair and everyone's wheelchair rides in the belly of the plane.

Traveling with your wheelchair on an aircraft is a cooperative event. You can
not expect any airline to handle your wheelchair with extreme care, or to
perform every task correctly. The job of the airline is the safe transport of
passengers. The job of the wheelchair passenger is to properly prepare
their wheelchair for flight. Hopefully, by following our simple suggestions
your wheelchair will arrive safely too.




Traveling with a battery in your wheelchair or scooter

Both automobiles and electric wheelchairs (or scooters) use batteries, but
not all batteries are the same or used for the same purpose. Automobiles
use a battery to start the engine to get the car underway, while wheelchairs
use a battery as their continuous source of power. For this reason,
traditional car batteries will not work very long, or at all, in a power
wheelchair. Instead, power wheelchairs and scooters need a "deep-cycle"
battery capable of delivering hours of continuous power.

The "deep-cycle" cousin of the traditional automobile lead-acid, "wet-cell"
battery can also be found on a power wheelchair. Wet-cell deep-cycle
batteries on power wheelchairs is not the type of battery we recommend for
any sort of travel. Traditional wet-cell batteries contain sulfuric acid that can
spill from a tilted battery or leak from a hairline crack in the battery case.
Any acid that escapes from a wet-cell battery will corrode your wheelchair,
your wiring, or maybe some important part on an aircraft. That is why most
air carries refuse to carry spillable wet-cell batteries when they remain
attached to a wheelchair. Travelers should expect airlines to remove the
wet-cell battery(s) from their wheelchair and seal them in a chemical-proof,
spill-proof container. At the other end of the flight the wet-cell batteries
and the wheelchair will be delivered separately...most often left on the
jetway for you to reassemble.

For traveling, we recommend sealed dry-cell or gel-cell batteries. These
batteries also contain lead plates and sulfuric acid but since they are
sealed, their acid can not escape, cause damage, or crash a plane. If the
case around the battery cracks, the material inside is dry, or like JelloŽ,
and takes a long time to leak. Gel and dry cell batteries may be a little
more expensive but, for their ease of traveling on aircraft and their low
potential for leaking acid on your wheelchair or an important airplane
control, they are a worthy investment.

An important note: If you are changing battery types from wet-cell to
dry-cell or gel-cell, you must have a battery charger designed for your new
type of battery. Dry-cell and gel-cell batteries require a special type of
charger.