To give you some background on my personal experience, I’ve been traveling disabled for twenty something years and have been on at least 60 flights, some short one hour hops and some all-day marathons. I’ve been to places as far as the 32 parallel in Manitoba, Canada, as well as southern Argentina in South America. In all those trips, I have never had one bad experience that neither made me want to avoid airline travel nor stop flying all together. I fly mainly Southwest, Continental and Northwest, but I’ve used several others like Air Canada, Aero-Mexico, Air Tran, America West, etc., and I’ve been on every sized plane from the big 747’s to the little puddle jumping prop planes. Every case airline and staff was knowledgeable and ready to take care of me and my chair. I use a manual chair and it has never been damaged throughout my traveling career.
Mobility Air Transport (MAT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to making air travel more accessible, convenient, and comfortable for persons using wheelchairs and their travel companions.
MAT is developing a nationwide air taxi service made up of specialized aircraft modified for accommodating passengers with wheelchairs (manual or powered) and travel companions such as family members and assist animals.
* If you are flying with an electric chair, make sure you call ahead of time and find out what the airline’s policy is so you will be prepared. With an electric chair, there are a lot more things that can be damaged during the loading and unloading.
Put lots of signs on it including how to put into/out of free-wheel, that the batteries are gel (not liquid) and do not need to be removed or disconnected, and that it MUST be in an upright position, and not dropped. Best to put the signs in both English and Spanish (yes, even inside the USA).
Leave nothing sensitive on the chair before gate checking it. This includes your cushion and control box, and of course, no back-pack. Take all this with you on the plane. Duct tape or otherwise attach anything that can come off (leg rests, arm rests, etc.). Put your charger inside your checked luggage.
Take a photo of the chair with that day's newspaper resting on the seat. Insist that they take the chair down from the gateway by elevator or lift truck, NOT by trying to carry it down the stairs (I have seen too many chairs dropped this way).
Once you arrive, assemble the chair and run it though all its paces before
leaving the gate area. If you see any damage, file a claim immediately. Don't
wait until you get to the baggage area or the curb.*
When flying with any airline other than Southwest, I usually call as soon
as I book my flight in order to get an assigned seat on the aisle and close
to the front as possible. You will likely be the first one on the plane and
the last one off, and you will be transferred to an aisle chair and taken
to your seat while your wheelchair is loaded in the belly. (Note - On certain
planes, I am able to roll up to the first row of seats close enough to transfer
straight from my chair.) Pre-boarding begins 30 minutes before departure and
you want to check into the gate 10-15 minutes before pre-board to get a tag
for chair. I always have my chair brought up to the plane immediately after
landing. Only once in a foreign country did I have to be taken all the way
to the baggage area to get back in my chair.
An important thing to know about getting through any airport is that there is no waiting in those long lines going through security. All wheelchair users and everyone in his/her party go through a separate line right up front. Often these lanes will be marked, but if not, the security personnel will tell you where to go and what to do.
Site for rules regarding the disabled and airline travel: http://www.ilru.org/html/training/webcasts/handouts/2003/11-19-MS/382HITS.htm
(Fun Fact - Best airports to be stuck in: McCarran, Las Vegas or Minneapolis-St.
Paul International)