Wheelchair Scams at Airports

As always, the airports will be mobbed at this time of year. People will probably still show up in their pajamas (sorry about that, Sean Duffy) and irritate each other while they wait in line. But the latest annoyance I learned about was that people who don’t need wheelchairs are requesting them to bypass lines and board their flights:

When Carlos Gomez’s recent flight from Guadalajara was delayed, he asked a gate attendant why. It wasn’t weather or crew shortages. There were 25 wheelchair passengers holding up boarding.

There were no such delays when Gomez’s flight landed. Most of the same passengers stood up without assistance and bounded off toward the baggage claim.

Social media has credited a divine intervention for this sudden return to mobility. An enigmatic ‘Jetway Jesus’ is curing these passengers by the time they land, and the remarkable recovery acts have been dubbed ‘miracle flights.’

I find this kind of behavior narcissistic and disgusting. There are people who genuinely need wheelchairs due to disabilities or because of their lack of mobility, and the lack of a wheelchair might be a trying experience.

Part of the problem is that passengers may not be asked by an airline to identify their disability or limitation:

The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA), as amended, ‘prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in air travel.’ Under the Act, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has a rule defining the rights of air travelers and the obligations of airlines under the law.

Under the ACAA, disabled air travelers need only self-declare that they are disabled and that they are requesting to pre-board. The airlines can’t require passengers to prove their disability.

There is also a cost to the excess ordering of wheelchairs:

[Frontier Airlines CEO Barry]Biffle claims that each time a passenger requests a wheelchair, it costs the airline $30-35. I believe it, because even at airport pay scales, we have to remember that every airport wheelchair requires an attendant and that passengers use those wheelchairs for a lengthy period. For example, when the plane arrives, the attendant doesn’t just pick up the passenger and immediately dump them at baggage claim. They might detour at a lavatory. At baggage claim, they have to wait for the baggage to arrive. Then they must take the passenger to their ground transportation. On average, that seems as though it will take more than a half hour every time. At departure, attendants are required for much longer times.

And you know who ultimately pays for those additional costs.

Then there is the additional difficulty created for those who need the wheelchairs:

The problem – aside from the dishonesty of it – is that requesting wheelchair assistance when you do not need it limits access to wheelchairs for those who do. Passengers with a bona fide disability are forced to wait longer, and could even miss their flight, because the limited number of contract wheelchair attendants are busy assisting passengers who simply want to skip queues.

If you know anyone who practices this “theft,” please discourage them from doing it. And at this time of year, remind them that it would be an act of generosity and kindness.

Not that they will likely care.