A Frontier Airlines plane seen at Cancun International Airport. Wednesday, December 8, 2021, Cancun International Airport, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Artur Widak | Nurphoto | getty images
The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 requires airlines to provide wheelchairs to passengers with disabilities at airports. But the problem is that many travelers are faking it. Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle said:
“There is a tremendous abuse of special services,” Biffle said at a Wings Club luncheon in New York on Thursday. “There are people using wheelchair assistance that they don’t need at all.”
He said he has seen some Frontier flights where 20 people were brought in wheelchairs on departure and only three people were using wheelchairs on arrival.
“We are healing so many people,” he joked.
Biffle wasn’t talking about the traveler’s personal wheelchair, but about the service the airline provides when the traveler arrives at the airport.
Biffle said it costs airlines $30 to $35 each time a customer requests a wheelchair, and overuse of the service can lead to delays for travelers who actually need assistance.
“Anyone who needs it should be eligible for it, but if you park in a handicapped space, your car will be towed and you will be fined,” he told CNBC. “There should be the same punishment for abuse of these services,” he said.
Biffle isn’t the only executive to complain about travelers falsely claiming wheelchairs should be available at airports.
In July 2022, John Holland-Kaye, then CEO of London Heathrow Airport, told LBC radio that amid staff shortages, some travelers were “using wheelchair assistance to get through the airport quickly”.
“If you go on TikTok, this is one of the travel hacks people recommend,” he said. “Please don’t do that. We need to protect services for those who need them most.”
John Morris, a triple amputee and founder of WheelchairTravel.org, points out that there’s a reason some travelers need a wheelchair on their departure leg but not on their arrival. For example, you may need help getting through a large airport like Atlanta or New York City, but this may not be the case at a smaller facility.
“Disability affects people in many different ways,” he said.
“I think there’s a good case to be made that abusers should face some consequences, but I’m not sure how that can be done in a society where disabilities aren’t (always) visible,” Morris said.
Earlier this year, the Department for Transport proposed stricter rules to prevent damage to wheelchairs for airport ground staff and ensure “prompt assistance” to disabled travelers when boarding and disembarking flights.
