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Unless you live in some kind of mystical nirvana that allows you to ski perfect powder, camp on lush green pastures and dive in tropical waters all year round, you’re going to have to take a flight somewhere at some stage to get to your chosen adventure destination. One of the things we get emails about most often is how does flying on an airline work when you’re in a wheelchair, so it’s obvious that a lot of people have a lot of questions.

The answer is it’s really pretty simple and nothing to worry about at all. Airlines are not allowed to discriminate against people because they are disabled, which means that they have to allow you to use the same flights and services as everyone else. With flights cheaper than they have ever been, and more companies competing for your money, jetting off somewhere has never been easier.

We’ve put together a guide to flying in a wheelchair for all you who have asked so many questions and to those who may have not flown since being in a wheelchair. This isn’t a complete guide by any means, and it certainly isn’t meant as a legal definition of any sort. It’s just a collection of out experiences and knowledge here at pushingthelimits. It’s aimed mainly at, and written by, manual wheelchair users who are pretty much independent, whether paraplegic or low level quads.

A Guide To Traveling And Flying With A Wheelchair:

When Booking Your Flights

Whether you book online, in person or on the phone, the airline will have some way for you to inform them that you require assistance to board the plane (normally at same stage were you can request vegetarian or diabetic in-flight meals). Make sure you let them know you are in a wheelchair, even though you’re not required to do this at all, you just want to make sure they’re aware so everything goes smoothly . When you book the flight it will be put in writing and recorded with all your other details, rather than you just verbally telling someone who might forget. This way they will never be able to say you didn’t warn them you needed extra assistance.

Dont worry, you’ll never turn up at the airport only for someone to say “sorry, you didn’t tell us you were in a wheelchair, we cant let you fly because we haven’t had enough warning”. That’s pretty much illegal.

If you get the chance to choose your own seat when you book, then have a look at seatguru.com to find the lowdown on the aircraft you’ll be flying on and the best seats to choose. The interactive search function will tell you were toilets are, which seats have the most leg room and best views etc.

Before You Check In

Call the airline, confirm that they are aware you require assistance because you are in a wheelchair and ask for extra weight allowance because of your medical equipment. This doesn’t mean the weight of your wheelchair, airlines are obligated to carry wheelchairs without added cost or including them in the allocated baggage allowance. You will be given extra weight allowance for any medical equipment, for long trips this can mean bags full of caths and other stuff, or a portable shower chair. Considering how airlines are cutting the amount of weight passengers are allowed, and charging crazy prices for being overweight, this is something you definitely want to do, an extra 30kg of baggage for free is pretty sweet.

At Check In

Check in early. You should always check-in well before the minimum time allowed, just to make sure everything goes smoothly and you have given the airline enough warning to get things ready for you. You could be boarding the plane at least 10 or 20 minutes before anyone else boards, and it will probably take longer to get through security and navigate the airport in a wheelchair, so check in as early as you can.

Even though you can check-in online, make sure you see one of the agents at the check in desk so you can make sure they know you need the aisle chair because you’re allergic to steps. Dont ever be surprised when you check in and they dont know anything about you needing assistance to board the plane, even if you told them when you booked. Which brings us onto the most important point:

Be nice. The people at the check in desk are the same people who will be allocating seats, giving free upgrades and generally being nice to you, so be nice back. They’ll check you in as normal and will probably be experienced in dealing with people in wheelchairs too, but make sure you tell them that you need to be met at the gate by porters with an aisle chair so you can be carried onto the aircraft.

They might ask you to transfer into an airport wheelchair so they can take your wheelchair away with the rest of the baggage to be loaded on the plane, tell them (nicely) to get lost. This shouldn’t really happen, but if it does tell them that you can make it to the gate by yourself just fine, and that until then you’ll be staying in your own chair. We’re pretty sure that you can navigate an airport by yourself so getting to the gate isn’t an issue, but you are geographically challenged then you can arrange to be met and taken to the gate too.

Ask for a baggage tag for your wheelchair. Even though it isnt going to be checked in with the rest of your bags that go in the hold of the aircraft, you chair still needs a baggage tag for it. Nothing can go in the hold of the aircraft without being recorded, getting it tagged also means there is less chance of it getting lost at some point. They may give you a tag at the check-in desk, or they may leave it until you are at the gate. Either way, make sure you get it tagged, and once you do, make sure you get the little ticket stubs that act as a receipt. If somehow your chair does get lost or damaged, then those stubs will prove that you entrusted them with you chair, and hopefully help track it down or get fixed.

Ask what time you will be boarding at and at which gate. They should board you early, which means that by the time you hear the speaker system announce your flight is boarding you will of missed getting on before everyone else. Which means that you’ll have to wait until everyone has made it to their seats, passed around the popcorn and are ready to watch you get carried on. Get a rough estimate of the time you should be at the gate, they may not know which gate the plane will be boarding at yet, but ask them anyway and find out how long it will take to get there. There is nothing worse than thinking you have loads of time to make it to the gate and chilling out looking around the duty free shops, only to find that it is going to take you 30 minutes just to get to the gate.

Make sure they know you need the aisle chair. Seriously, we’ve been burned too many times on this one.

At Security

Dont wait in line. Airport security lines are a nightmare, thankfully most airports will have a line especially for disabled people and wheelchair users. Normally it will be on one side, rather than in the middle and you should be guided towards it by the pre-screeners who check you passport and boarding pass. If not just keep an eye out or ask someone who looks official. The main reason for not waiting in line is because most of the lines will lead to just a walk-through scanner with no other way of passing through the check point. Which brings us to the next point:

Dont go into the walk-through scanner. The security staff will probably grab you before you do anyway, but going through the scanner is pretty pointless as no matter how much you empty your pockets, the wheelchair will keep setting it off. Empty your pockets and put all your stuff onto the conveyer belt for the x-ray machines as normal, then you will be taken through a little gate to the side of the scanner and given a quick hand search by someone of the same sex. Nothing overly intrusive at all, just a quick pat down and a few wipes with explosive detecting tissues over the wheelchair. Sometimes you may be asked to remove your shoes, other times they will just wipe them, it depends on the security staff.

Obviously all the other normal security related rules remain in effect.

At The Gate

Get there early. You should get there nice and early and make sure that the crew have ordered the aisle chair to be ready for you. It will probably be the same staff who originally checked you in at the check in desk earlier, but even so, just remind them and make sure the chair will be ready. If it isn’t ready on time then they will board the rest of the passengers first, which means you being carried on last.

Be Nice. If there is any chance of you getting a free upgrade, or more likely, having you seat changed so you have an empty row to yourself then it will be the staff at the gate who will be able to do it.

Check that the aisle chair and porters have been informed they are needed.

Check that they plan to pre-board you. They really should pre-board you, in fact depending on which country you are in, they have to pre-board you. Getting carried on after everyone else is already seated can be embarrassing, so make sure you (politely) let them know that you have to be pre-boarded and that if the aisle chair hasn’t arrived on time then the whole flight will have to be delayed until you can be boarded.

Ask if there are any empty seats. If you aren’t really that bothered about being pre-boarded it can actually work in your favor to be boarded last. Once everyone else has boarded the crew will know exactly how many seats are empty and which are available. If you ask nicely about empty seats or upgrades this is your best chance of getting them. On larger aircraft the best option is to see if there is an empty row of 3 or 4 seats, which means you will be able to spread out and lie flat across them all. Otherwise try and see if you can get an upgrade to the next class up. Dont expect to be bumped up to first class, but normally the crew will be happy to help you out, as long as you haven’t been an asshole up until this point.

Also if you didn’t get a baggage tag for you chair at check-in, make sure you get one now, along with the receipt for it.

Getting On The Plane

Once the plane is ready the gate staff will call you (and anyone else who needs extra time to board) forward first to pre-board. You should always be pre-boarded before the rest of the passengers. Sometimes, if the flight has been delayed and the crew are in a hurry or under pressure to board everyone quickly, they may want to board the other passengers first and then carry you on last. They shouldn’t do this, it can be embarrassing to be gawked at as you’re carried on the aircraft, so once again, talk to the crew at the gate and make sure there mean to pre-board you.

If the aircraft is connected to the airport gate by one of the covered passenger bridges then you will just wheel down that as normal. But if it’s a smaller airport without passenger bridges or a smaller aircraft that just uses steps up from the runway tarmac, then you will probably be taken to the aircraft by a different route than the rest of the passengers. This will probably entail leaving the gate and going into an employee only area to reach the ground floor by elevator before being taken out to the waiting plane on the tarmac.

The method of lifting you level with the aircraft door will be different depending on the airport, the type and size of the aircraft and what equipment each airport uses but will usually be some form of ambu-lift, which are most commonly small buses that drive up to the side of the aircraft and then raise up via hydraulics to become level with the door so you can wheel across (like the one in the picture above). The size of these ambi-lifts can range from large ones for around 10 people, to small individual ones that only carry one person at a time. Dont be surprised if you

Whatever method you use to get to the aircraft door, whether via the passenger bridge or ambi-lift, once you get there you will have to transfer from your own wheelchair into the aisle chair and be lifted onto the airplane by porters. The aisle is too narrow for wheelchair to fit down, so the aisle chair is a narrow seat for you to sit on while you are carried to your seat.

There will be at least two porters on hand to help you transfer if you need it, and to strap you into the aisle chair. The cabin crew will also be there to meet you and carry on any hand luggage for you. When you transfer into the aisle chair, your wheelchair will be taken and put in the hold (unless it can be stowed inside the aircraft, which is the ideal solution. Check the bottom of the page for more details) so make sure you get the crew to place a ‘deliver to door’ tag on your wheelchair. That way when you land the luggage handlers will bring it up to the door of the aircraft again, rather than sending it with the rest of the bags to the baggage reclaim. Make sure you dont leave anything attached to the wheelchair that can fall out or get pulled off (baggage handlers aren’t renowned for being extra careful with things) and take your cushion off, even if you dont plan to sit on it, so that it cant get lost.

Once you are on the aisle chair you’ll be taken down the aisle to your seat, depending on which airplane you are traveling on, the armrests on the passenger seats may or may not raise up. On most new planes the armrest will raise up to allow easy transfers, but in some older planes they dont so make sure you transfer skills are up to scratch. When you get to your row, if you want to sit on the aisle you can, but most times you may want to sit at the window so you have a nice window view, and so your fellow passengers dont have to climb over you each time they want to go to the bathroom. Even if you’ve been allocated the aisle seat, just explain that you need to sit at the window because you cant stand up to let other people past and the cabin crew will happily let you have the window seat.

If you want to have you wheelchair cushion on the aircraft seat then just ask one of the cabin crew to get it in place, otherwise just have them stow it in the overhead locker for you.

In Flight

Once you’re in your seat you are pretty much stuck there, so get comfortable. The cabin crew may come down and introduce themselves personally to you and ask what help you need, and what would be the best way to assist you. The larger aircrafts will have some form of small collapsable aisle chair to allow you to be taken to the bathroom by the cabin crew, but be warned, the crew will probably not know where it is or how to assemble it. But most smaller airplanes wont have these at all.

Getting to the bathroom on a flight is normally the biggest concern for wheelchair users when they think about flying. Even with the on-board aisle chair things are less than ideal. It is such a small and near useless contraption that it really is best saved for bathroom related emergencies. Basically dont plan on using the bathroom at all during your flights, for short hauls this isn’t so bad, but for longer flights this isn’t so easy. The easiest thing to due is to use an in-dwelling cath for the flight and a leg bag, it’s amazingly easy to quietly empty a bag into an empty water bottle without anyone ever knowing.

If you’re comfortable with it, you can even self-cath in your seat, with the help of a blanket or coat to hide your hairy parts from the lucky passenger who gets to sit next to you. Again this can easily be done without anyone knowing.

When it comes to the other kind of bathroom activity things aren’t as easy, using the on-board aisle (if there is one) chair is one option, but airplane bathrooms are so small that things are very difficult. The only advice we can really give you is to hold out until you land. Again, the shorter the flight the easier this becomes, but one basic tip is to simply cut down on your food intake immediately before and during the flight. If it doesn’t go in, in cant come out. Try not to drink any fizzy drinks either, stick to water.

Getting Off The Plane

Once you land at your destination you’ll have to sit and wait for everyone to get off the plane first before you can make the mad dash to the nearest bathroom. Once again you are at the mercy of the aisle chair and it’s availability. A good thing to do just before the plane makes it final descent is to ask the cabin crew to radio the gate as soon as they land and ask for the aisle chair to be waiting. Your details should be in the system anyway, and the porters should be eagerly awaiting your arrival, but it never hurts to double check.
Things should work just as boarding only in reverse, you will be carried off the plane and you chair should be waiting for you at the door of the aircraft. If it isn’t then something has gone wrong, but nothing that cant be fixed, because of out awesome tips you have your cushion to sit on, and your chair tag receipt so everything can be tracked down.

Hopefully everything went well though and you have your own wheelchair back, undamaged, and are ready to head off to collect you luggage and be on your way. Because you had to wait until last to get off the plane there will be no crowd to follow to the luggage reclaim area though, but the airline will have staff on hand to show you the way if you need it and help you out with any luggage or other problems you have.

Connecting Flights

If you have a connecting flight then make sure you let the cabin crew know and the porters who carry you off the plane will be able to tell you where you need to go for your next flight. Sometimes the porters who lifted you off one flight will be going with you to carry you onto the next, so it should work out OK. One thing to take into account when booking flights is how much time you have to make a connection. If it is anything less than 40 minutes then it is unlikely you will make it without a mad rush and added stress. So book flights with a little longer between connections so you have time to make it easily and get a chance to freshen up a little in a proper bathroom before the next flight.

Broken or Lost  Wheelchair

If the worst happens and your wheelchair is lost or broken then feel free to panic a little. If it’s lost then it really cant of gone too far, because it was with you when you boarded the plane it cant really of got lost on route to the plane as most lost luggage does. Really the only thing that could of happened is that it’s been taken to the luggage reclaim with the rest of the luggage from the flight, or if you have a connecting flight it’s been taken and loaded onto that flight already. Because you followed our tips and made sure it had a luggage tag, it will end up at your destination, and because you kept the receipts you’ll be able to track it down. Most times though the ground crew will just chase after the baggage handlers and bring the wheelchair back to you.

Unfortunately it’s more likely that your chair will come back damaged in some way than being lost completely. This has got to be the biggest concern when flying, especially if you’re flying abroad. Basically the airline is responsible for all repairs, and has to do them to your satisfaction. That means that if it cant be fixed it has to be replaced. Obviously that all sounds great, but what are you supposed to do while you chair is away being fixed. Well if it is so badly broken that you cant actually sit in it then they have to provide a replacement until it can be fixed or replaced. If the problem is something that doesn’t stop you from using the chair (like a buckled wheel) then you go home in you chair and they send someone out to you to fix it or replace the broken part.

The most important thing to do is to inspect you chair as soon as you get it back at the door of the aircraft, if it is damaged in any way then report it straight away. You will have to go to a customer service desk to formally lodge the complaint, the ground crew will show the way and help you out. Make sure you have the baggage tags and receipts with you so you can prove it was damaged in transit.

Here at the pushingthelimits staff we’ve had two experiences of wheelchair beings damaged during flights. The first was a minor buckle to a wheel, after it was reported the guy was able to go home in his own chair. The airline payed for the wheel to be replaced as a pair, which meant a pair of brand new off-road wheels and tires at $1000. The second was a major break to the footrest area of a wheelchair, this time the chair was unusable and a replacement chair was provided from a rental company while the chair was fixed. Within 48 hours the chair was returned in perfect condition. We’ve heard of much worse horror stories, but the odds are slim and should never make you consider not flying.

Some Final Tips

Always carry spare medical supplies (caths etc) and a very basic overnight kit (change of underwear etc), as well as any essential medicines in your hand luggage just incase the rest of your luggage is lost or delayed.

Think about getting a secondary cushion for using on the plane, similar to the cushions people use on car seats. You can easily use you normal wheelchair cushion, but the added height this adds to the seat makes everything pretty uncomfortable. The low profile ROHO cushions are great for this.

You’re entitled to have your wheelchair stowed inside the aircraft rather than being put in the hold, in certain circumstances. Basically it’s a first come, first served kinda deal and is dependent on the size of the aircraft itself. Read Sec.382.41 - Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in air travel for more details.

If you have problems at the airport that you think are discriminatory or against the law, then ask for the Complaints Resolution Officer (CRO). Every airport is required by law to have a CRO on duty at all times, and they’ll be able to settle any arguments or conflicts over the rules as they are being applied to you.

Read about Accessibility In Air Travel For The Traveller With A Disability from the DOT. (PDF)