Physical Disability Australia (PDA) has called for binding aviation standards that end what it calls the “humiliation of flying with disability”.
The PDA adds that 5.5 million Australians with disability keep enduring broken wheelchairs, denied boardings and a travel experience requiring the patience of a kindergarten teacher on excursion day.
The group has lodged its submission to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts’ Aviation Disability Standards Consultation Paper, delivering a clear message to government, airlines and airports: the era of “best endeavours” is over.
In a press release issued to media, the PDA claims people with physical disability are routinely separated from their mobility aids for hours, lifted by untrained staff, denied the right to travel because of unclear rules, or left stranded when a $30,000 wheelchair arrives in pieces at the other end.
“Every week we hear from members who have been dropped during transfers, had their wheelchairs destroyed, or been told at the gate that they can’t fly because ‘the quota is full,'” said Suzanne Gearing, CEO of Physical Disability Australia (left).
“No other group of Australians is asked to gamble their independence and dignity every time they travel. That ends only when the rules are mandatory, specific and enforced.
“The Government deserves credit for co-designing these options with people with disability – that is exactly how this should be done.
“But co-design means nothing if the final standards are a wish list. We are asking the Minister to choose the regulatory option every time dignity is on the line.”
PDA’s submission highlights that the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 have applied to aviation for more than two decades, yet, as the Government’s own consultation paper acknowledges, “people with disability have made it clear that issues remain.”
“Airlines and airports have had every opportunity to get it right voluntarily, but we have received feedback from over 3700 travellers with disability who make it clear that the 24 years of guidance have been largely ignored. We are asking government to make sure that promise is kept in law, not in a brochure,” added Ms Gearing.
“Flying is not a luxury. It is how we get to work, to medical care, to family, to a life. We are not cargo. We are passengers. It’s time the rules said so.”
