People often choose flights over trains or buses for their comfort and convenience. But for persons with disabilities, comfort is the last thing on their mind when they alight at an airport. From having to be carried up a staircase to the aircraft door to being unable to visit the toilet while on the flight, the hassles they face are both unnerving and unnecessary.
Early on Monday, freelance journalist Malini Shankar (47) waited for 25 minutes at the taxi aisle of Kempegowda International Airport for a wheelchair. When she did not get one and the time to report for her flight got closer, she hobbled to the airline counter, only to be told that the time for check-in was over. After she complained, the airline offered her a free ticket on the next flight.
“We were not allowed to stop at the wheelchair alighting point,” said Ms. Shankar. “The airport staff asked us to move the vehicle to the next lane.” After parking, the driver got off and started looking for a wheelchair.
Ignorance about chairs
Hers is not an isolated case. Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla (54), Arjuna Award winner and international para athlete, says that each time she books a flight, she has to spend several minutes explaining her condition to the staff and asking for the right kind of chair. In her experience, cabin crew are unaware of the difference between narrow cabin chairs, which can be rolled in the aisles and the wider wheelchairs, which need to be left at the aircraft door.
“A wheelchair can be used for aged persons who can walk a short distance to their seats, but for someone like us, if cabin chairs are not provided, we have to be carried from the door of the aircraft to our seat,” said Dr. Holla. During booking, the only option available is wheelchairs.
As happened with Ms. Shankar, the delay can even cost someone a flight. Dr. Holla says, “There is a board at BIAL when you enter the airport designating a lane for VVIPs and persons with reduced mobility. However, the airport staff manning the point do not allow people to park in the lane, even when wheelchair assistance is required.”
The BIAL spokesperson said it is not possible that a passenger with reduced mobility would have been asked to move out of the wheelchair assistance zone. “When you enter the taxi lane, signage on the left hand side displays telephone numbers for wheelchair assistance,” she said, adding that staff manning the lane ask taxis to move along quickly to prevent holdups.
The airline spokesperson told The Hindu that Ms. Shankar was not allowed to board as she was late for her flight. “We offered her a free ticket on the next flight,” he added.
Toilet woes
Since most domestic airlines do not carry cabin chairs on board, persons with disabilities are unable to use the toilet unless a staff physically carries them to the rest room.
“Paraplegics cannot control their urinary continence all the time. Either they have to wet their pants or be lifted to the toilets,” Dr. Holla said.
Her last point was telling: “We are not asking for additional facilities; only that the ones in existence are put to proper use. When persons with disabilities pay full fare, why should they not expect a certain level of comfort while travelling?”
