TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Airlines

Mom Worried Her Son Would Bother His Seatmate on the Plane. But Instead…They Became Buddies

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If you saw the two seatmates cracking jokes and having fun on the direct flight from Las Vegas to PDX, you might have assumed that they were father and son. But this wasn’t the usual son-tells-father-to-stop-making-Dad-jokes banter. They were strangers: One, a 7-year-old autistic boy traveling on a short flight without his mom and the other, a passenger who happened to take the seat next to him. Because mom was a bundle of nerves, she decided to write a note of introduction for whoever might sit next to her son, shown here. The ride turned out to be a shining moment for both of them, each enjoying the trip and getting to know each other. The video has since gone viral. SEE MORE, here.   

OUR TAKE: If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism. In the travel industry, which is all about new life experiences and connections, the story of the two seatmates couldn’t be a more appropriate example of that. Landon is definitely one of a kind! Find information on travel providers who specialize in working with people with autism, here. 

Personal Story: Arriving in the City That Never Sleeps Without My Legs

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When fashionista Madison Wilson arrived in New York City for Fashion Week, her wheelchair never made it off her departing flight and got left across the country. So, she had essentially arrived in the city that never sleeps while American Airlines left her legs in Chicago. When her wheelchair finally arrived in NYC five days later, it was broken and continued to become increasingly broken on the flight back home…READ MORE

OUR TAKE: Making connections with real people with real disabilities is the path to understanding them and the challenges they may face while traveling. At TravelAbility Summit, we take this idea seriously and our board, our content and our plans for our upcoming Summit all include the voices and experiences of people with disabilities. Use the links here to learn more about our Summit speakers and the Advisory Board instrumental in helping is to find such top-notch expertise.

photo credit: Madison Wilson

 

Airlines, Hotels, Attractions Prove Disability Inclusion Isn’t Just the Right Thing to Do—It’s Great for Business

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an average of 28% higher revenue, 30% greater economic profit margins

According to a recent study of 140 U.S. companies by Accenture–alongside the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and Disability:IN those businesses that offered the most inclusive working environment for disabled employees achieved an average of 28% higher revenue, 30% greater economic profit margins, and twice the net income of their industry peers between 2015 and 2018. Here are 2019’s top travel-industry scorers on the Disability Equality Index (DEI), a national comprehensive benchmarking tool.*

The following companies scored 80% or above on the DEI:

  • Airlines/Cruise Lines: American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, United Airlines, Royal Carribean
  • Hotels: Choice Hotels
  • Attractions: The Walt Disney Company, Comcast NBCUniversal
    To learn  more about how they became models of inclusion in the travel sector, READ MORE

OUR TAKE: The business benefits of creating an inclusive workforce are now abundantly clear. But what are the benefits for travelers? The upside is huge, actually. An inclusive internal workforce is a natural pathway to creating accessible products and authentic marketing. The more first-hand knowledge you have of the disability community and the particular needs of a certain group, the better you will be able to serve that consumer. Kudos to all who scored in the top ranks on the Disability Equality Index, the most comprehensive benchmarking tool for disability inclusion.

*Please Note: A score of 100 does not mean to convey “perfection.” AAPD and Disability:IN recognize there is no one “right” way to practice inclusion, and that some practices may be more practical for some companies or industries than others. A score of 100 on the DEI simply means that a company adheres to many of the numerous leading disability inclusion practices featured in the DEI.

 

Why Are Airplane Bathrooms So Crappy?

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 “Nobody boy in wheelchair with someone pushing him. A travel blanket on his laplikes talking about using the bathroom, except maybe my two adolescent sons. But for wheelchair users planning trips involving flights, the ability (or lack thereof) to use an airplane bathroom (a.k.a. lavatory) can make or break their travel plans. While this post is intended for wheelchair users who haven’t flown yet as such, I consider myself a very seasoned traveler and I definitely learned something,” writes Spin the Globe’s Sylvia Longmire. Read Longmire’s expert guide to airplane bathrooms to help you determine how they fit (or don’t fit) into your travel plans.

OUR TAKE: As with most things travel-related, preparation and some research are required fo the best results. You can request an onboard aisle chair, making it easier to navigate once inside the plane. Southwest and JetBlue have made it part of their standard protocol to have them. If you are flying on a domestic flight, contact an airline within 48 hours of your flight to request one. According to the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), the airline is required by law to provide one.     READ MORE

Some Airlines Are Still Damaging Wheelchairs at Ridiculously High Rate

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Senator Duckworth in a wheelchair at a. Democratic eventFirst, the good news: Since U.S. airlines began tracking and reporting the number of wheelchairs/mobility scooters damaged in December of 2018, there’s a clear improvement! But there’s still a lot of room for improvement. At TravelAbility Insider, we’ve been tracking the numbers and, in honor of the law’s most outspoken and effective advocate, Senator Tammy Duckworth, we’ve named it The Duckworth Wheelchair Damage Report. Here’s the short story:

American   7.2% to 4.68%
Frontier      5.31% to 2.31%
Jet Blue     4.01% to  1.39%
Southwest 6.46% to 1.28%

 

The Duckworth Wheelchair Damage Report