TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Jake Steinman

American Airlines Backpedals After Wheelchair Travel Blogger Speaks Out

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American Airlines planes at Chicago Airport, city skyline in background.

Last month, American Airlines made headlines after it refused to transport WheelchairTravel.org Founder and TravelAbility Advisory Board member John Morris, citing a new airline policy that deemed his power wheelchair too heavy to fly.

John, who has flown more than a million miles as a wheelchair user, took his case to the media, generating coverage by NPR, Travel + Leisure, The Dallas Morning News, Forbes and numerous other publications. Following the original NPR story, American Airlines stated that it would review its policy and “ensure all customers can travel wherever American flies.”

Last week, the airline announced that it had reversed the policy, allowing power wheelchair users like John to fly once again. Congratulations, John, on your successful advocacy campaign!

To read the latest NPR story, click here.   -JS

Why We Postponed TravelAbility Summit

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Jake standing with a microphone talking to audience members seated at :Llaunchpad event

We have some sad news. Despite the six months of promotion and awareness, registrations for TravelAbility 2020 have been alarmingly slow. Our team spent the past week phoning last year’s attendees and our Advisory Board members—our most enthusiastic supporter base— to find out if they were planning to register for this year’s conference. The results were not exactly surprising, given the state of the travel industry.

Here’s what we heard: Because there is no real end in sight to Covid-19 and with travel happening in fits and starts, their budgets – or what’s left of them – are being placed on hold until there is a clear end in sight. Some destinations have been barred from spending money unless it generates revenues in the short term, and one advisory board member told me that they need approval for even a $20 expenditure. The industry is in survival mode.

When faced with challenges and obstacles, many in the disability community are resilient, adaptable and resolute. I’ve seen those characteristics first-hand in my listening tours across the country, one-on-one conversations and at the amazing inaugural conference we had in 2019. We understand the current realities, but also appreciate the chance to continue conversations and commitments throughout the coming year. 

Although we’re postponing the Summit until the fall of 2021, we will continue to work on advancing accessibility in following ways:

  • Launching our newly redesigned website as an information hub and repository for accessible travel information
  • The Explorable podcast, launched last month in collaboration with Design Sensory, will feature many of the innovative companies and speakers in upcoming episodes.
  • TravelAbility Insider, the Summit’s companion online newsletter will be published bi-monthly.
  • Monthly or bi-monthly webinars featuring some of the most inspiring presenters we recruited for TravelAbility 2020
  • The Landing Page Initiative: Helping the travel industry advance accessibility by adding accessible landing pages to their websites..

As a result of the postponement, we will miss the opportunity to gather and create new allies. So many people left last year’s TravelAbility Summit inspired to promote accessibility and inclusion!

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you at our upcoming webinars. 

Coming Soon: The TravelAbility Landing Page Tracker. If you are destination, hotel or attraction with a dedicated accessible web page and would like to become part of the Landing Page Project, please contact me at jake@travelabilitysummit.com

John Morris Takes the Reins as Editor of TravelAbility Insider

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John Morris wearing a white shirt, blue jacket and red tie.
John Morris

We are pleased to announce that John Morris, a triple amputee whose limbs were amputated following a 2012 car accident and who, prior to COVID-19, traveled more than 300 days per year, will assume the editorial role of TravelAbility Insider beginning with this issue.

I’d like to thank Denise Brodey, with whom I first made contact 18 months ago after I read one her articles in Forbes and cajoled her to come aboard as editor of our nascent newsletter. We now have over 3,100 readers—with a 43% average open rate—due to her deft eye for editorial content. Denise will go into semi-seclusion as she embarks on a ghost-writing project in addition to her other duties.

John, a power wheelchair user and founder of WheelchairTravel.org, has been a prominent advocate for travel accessibility through his writings and his thought leadership, and we welcome him aboard.

Important Announcement: Introducing the TravelAbility Tuesday Series

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TravelAbility Summit logo

In the last issue of TravelAbility Insider, we announced that TravelAbility Summit would be held virtually for 3 hours a day during the week of November 9-13th.  Since that time, we had the experience of producing the Parakeet Pop Up, a virtual conference about virtual conferences that functioned as a practice event for TravelAbility Summit. We also held our quarterly advisory board meeting where we shared our experiences from that event.

The board overwhelmingly felt that holding the Summit every day for a week would discourage THEM from attending and probably others as well. As a result, we decided the least disruptive approach would be to spread TravelAbility out over a five-week period. Each Tuesday from November 10th to December 8th, we will present programming from 9:00-12:00 pm PDT, followed by 30-minutes of networking time. Recordings of all sessions will also be available to registrants on-demand.

Register for the TravelAbility Tuesday Series – TravelAbility Summit to be held over 5 consecutive Tuesdays beginning November 10 and ending December 8th. All sessions will be virtual from 9:00-12:00 PDT. The TravelAbility Tuesday Series will pick up again on consecutive Tuesdays from February 2-18, 2021 as three one hour “train-the-trainer” workshops. 

Early bird registration for all 8 sessions is $595. Here’s what’s included:

  • Insights from five days of content with over 60 presenters
  • Three post-event train-the-trainer workshops
  • Recordings for all sessions

Click here for speakers (to date).

Click here for the Agenda.

Click here to register.

Where Is the First Universally Design-Certified Hotel?

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entryway of a hotel with a blue ribbon and people wearing masks celebrating new hotel
Welcome to Amherst-Buffalo, New York!

The Hampton by Hilton in Amherst, New York, opened the first universal design-certified (isUD)hotel in the country recently. The hotel has large turning radiuses, wider hallways for easy passing, and illuminated room signage, according to a report in the Sled Hockey Foundation News. It’s worth noting that the Sled Hockey Foundation, which is conveniently located across from the new hotel, which is owned by Uniland, a major developer in the region.  Sled Hockey, a Paralympic event, provides the opportunity for individuals with disabilities to participate in the adaptive sport of sled hockey and, through this participation, develop the social, emotional, and physical confidence necessary to become leaders. Pretty cool. 

OUR TAKE 

At TravelAbility Week, Nov 9-13, 2020, we will be advancing accessibility one hotel at a time by featuring an interview with the GM of this marvelous 107 room property. Awareness of needs and the scope of the work it takes to design a hotel for all is growing. When’s your next renovation? You might want to spread the word and educate people now. Find out more about universal design, here.

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