A Frontier Airlines plane seen at Cancun International Airport. Wednesday, December 8, 2021, at Cancun International Airport, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The Air Carrier Access Act 1986 requires airlines to provide a wheelchair for disabled passengers at the airport. The problem, however, is that many travelers pretend Frontier Airlines said CEO Barry Biffle.
“We are dealing with massive and widespread abuse of special services. There are people who exploit wheelchairs who don’t need them at all,” Biffle said over lunch at the Wings Club on Thursday in Novel York.
He said he had seen several Frontier flights that had 20 people in wheelchairs on departure and only three of them using wheelchairs upon arrival.
“We heal so many people,” he joked.
Biffle was not talking about travelers’ personal wheelchairs, but rather the services provided by airlines when travelers arrive at the airport.
Biffle says it costs the airline $30 to $35 each time a customer requests a wheelchair, and overuse of the service leads to delays for travelers who actually need assistance.
“Anyone who needs it should have the right to do so, but if you park in a handicapped spot, they will tow your car and fine you,” he told CNBC. “There should be the same penalty for abusing these services.”
Biffle is not the only executive to complain that travelers falsely claim they need wheelchair access at the airport.
In July 2022, John Holland-Kaye, then CEO of London Heathrow Airport, said Radio LBC faced with staffing shortages, some travelers “utilized wheelchair support in an attempt to move more quickly through the airport.”
“If you exploit TikTok, this is one of the travel hacks that people recommend,” he said. “Please don’t do this. We must protect this service for the people who need it most.”
John Morris, triple amputee and founder WheelchairTravel.orgnoted that there are reasons why some travelers may need wheelchairs on the outbound leg but not on arrival. For example, they may need aid getting through a immense airport like Atlanta or Novel York, but not smaller facilities.
“Disability affects people in many different ways,” he said.
“I think there’s a good argument to be made that perpetrators of violence should face some consequences, but I’m not sure how we can do that in a society where our disabilities are not at risk [always] apparent,” Morris said.
Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation proposed tightening it up rules aimed at preventing ground staff from damaging wheelchairs at the airport and providing “rapid assistance” to disabled travelers when boarding and disembarking aircraft.
