Travel with Wheelchairs

“My wheelchair is my independence. When I hand it over, I lose that.”
For disability advocate Pernilla Becker, travelling means a lot of joy. But she also knows from experience that things can go wrong when travelling with aid equipment. She often has to be the expert, leading and instructing the airport staff on how to safely handle her wheelchair. Despite precautions like these, hundreds of wheelchairs are either lost, damaged or completely destroyed by airlines every year. Should it really be so difficult and stressful for people with wheelchairs to travel?
Visit our Travel Support website for useful travel resources, top tips from experienced travelers, incident reporting, and more: www.permobil.com/travel-support
#innovatingforindividuals #tourthewheels #rightsonflights #justplanewrong

[@chrisfitzchrisfitz5182]

Like this young lady, I do travel with a power wheelchair Dash I just recently took a trip to San Diego and purposely use my old quickie QM 710. This way, if something were to happen to it, it would not be as bad as if it were to happen to my brand new Permobil wheelchair! As far as traveling in our chairs in airplanes, again, I could not agree more with her comment. We really need to be able to travel with our chairs come in our chairs! It is very sad to say, that the airlines do not do enough to take care of these devices, which are so, so critical to our independence! Let’s push the airlines to make it possible for us to travel in our chairs!

[@PermobilCorporation]

🙌💙

[@JordanLoweElevaToursCanada]

I agree with her, in this day and age where if you have a wheelchair or a power chair like this lady in the video I can relate! As a full-time wheelchair user I rely on my power chair to get me anywhere independently, and in this day and age I shouldn't have to worry about Airline employees putting my power chair in the cargo section of the plane with the luggage. The reason I say this it's because not only do I have to worry about the surroundings around my wheelchair, but I'm also worried about the carelessness of employees that could possibly cause damage to some parts of the wheelchair and it could be a part that is vital for a full wheelchair operation. I believe every airline should have a mandatory exercise course when it comes to power chair transportation. Because these are not just mobility devices they are our bodies! With the evolution of accessibility in ground transportation whether it's an accessible vehicle, transit bus etc. I believe that the commercial aviation industry needs to come up with some sort of safety design that allows passengers with physical disabilities to travel on a flight with their own personal wheelchair that is specifically designed for their own personal comfort.

[@PermobilCorporation]

Well said! 🙌 //Patrik

[@FilWheel]

So true