To be fed up of airport accessibility services?

[OneLilacHedgehog]

Recently I was stuck on a plane on the tarmac for one and a half hours waiting for the lift that takes people off the plane, who can't get down the stairs. One woman got so fed up she went down the stairs on her bum.

None of this is unusual. We have to book accessibility services ahead of time, get to the airport in plenty of time, and yet still there is often lots of waiting around because they have not organised enough staff to provide the service. It's staffing, when we left the plane we could see three lifts not being used, so they obviously were short staffed.

Disabled people pay for their tickets, but are expected to just put up with a standard of service that would lead to outrage if able bodied people had to put up with it. Imagine if planes routinely sat on the tarmac for up to a few hours before they brought the steps to the plane.

One and a half hours?

i’m surprised the cabin crew and pilots weren’t raising merry hell the aeroplane must have been so late for it’s next flight!

I’ve been carried off before now into an airport wheelchair.

Yup, yet another instance of disability discrimination in our society.
I was once told off by the assistance manager for not being early enough for assistance and her attitude of "we'll do it this time but grudgingly" was so bad. I got on the first bus so aside from sleeping at the airport the night before I couldn't have got there earlier. There was plenty of time anyway.
I've also been pushed and rammed into things by miserable looking assistance people, in their vile uncomfortable wheelchairs.
The only people who are consistently kind are security!!!!
Absolutely appalling at the woman who went down the steps on her bum. How can they think that's ok?! Where is the outrage by the public?

No outrage because they don’t see it? Everyone has disembarked?

I’ve only been unfortunate enough to use it once. The country I was departing - amazing. Even offered to potter us around in duty free. In the UK… appalling. Not as severe as going down on my bum, but I risked serious injury/opening stitches because I couldn’t tolerate it any longer and got myself off.

at least I had that option, I appreciate how disgusting it is for those that don’t.

I complained to the airport, airline and my MP.

as with all things - it’s awareness isn’t it? Someone never requiring it or being exposed to the appalling nature of the “service” can’t advocate or ally for better provision…

edit: to clarify my tone is sympathetic not abrasive. I’m genuinely pondering if that’s tne reason.

I noticed that there's currently 17% of voters who've not commented but obviously think that you're out of order for expecting help. 🥴

There's some right pricks in this world (apart from the ones who procure airport services).

I don't know whether I have been lucky or your have been unlucky but I use the service and fly quite a bit and generally find it is excellent

Ah, sadly I've been on the crew side of this process on occasions when it's gone wrong.

The problem often is that if the aircraft isn't on a tight turn round (which is often the case in Long Haul) there's no imperative for the ground agency to pull their collective fingers out.

They don't care about crew hanging around performing duty of care functions...

Yes it's very obviously unacceptable, crew do report it.

I am at the stage of considering not flying again. Between having to have detailed conversations with hotels about what accessible room actually means e.g. it does not mean a shower over a shallow bath, having to negotiate pavements that may or may not have kerbs down, and accessibility services at airports, it's all feeling like just too hard at the moment.

I used to be an adventurous traveller. Now even going to Europe isn't easy.

I'm ex cabin crew and i also have a severly disabled son (16 years).

1. In the UK they need to get rid of the sunflower lanyard for airport use. It's too easy to abuse. (I know this doesn't impact op but I also know people who use the sunflower lanyard rather than paying for fast track when they aren't disabled and just want to scam the system).

1. The ambi lift (the lift that comes to the service door for people who can't manage stairs) isn't always available as there are only so many per airport and sometimes they need a specific ambi lift for a specific aircraft type.

1. If there is a flight such as a Lordes which is renound for having many people who need an ambi lift it can take hours to get all the people off the plane who need this (cabin crew don't aways get paid for this time and it may cut into their rest hours so they don't want people to be waiting for a long time either- flight deck usually vanish).

1. Some people book airport assistance who clearly don't need it as they think it'll get them through immigration etc quicker. They hold up the processs for everyone else and are taking resources from those that really need them - they are £%>@(.

1. Staffing levels impact on everything.

I'm really sorry you were stuck for this length of time. I don't believe the airports are strictly to blame.

I went to Amsterdam by ferry recently and it was pretty good.

considering trying Eurostar as well.

Yes everyone stuck on the plane needed an ambi lift. They know people are coming in who need this though, we have to book. So they should have enough.
It's also incredibly common to have one member of staff trying to push two wheelchairs.

@Octavia64 yes maybe that is the best way to travel?

They definitely need to make the sunflower lanyard use stricter. We were in Gatwick with my 8 year old non verbal and learning difficulties child and he was struggling with all the noise and people in the "quiet" area. When I asked a member of staff if I was in the wrong area, obviously thinking that this couldn't be the quiet queue, he was exasperated and said well it should be used for people like your child but now everyone has the lanyard.

You're right they should know and it's usually confirmed by the flight deck before landing but they can't pull the lifts away if they are already in use.

Yea, people pre book but aircraft/ canx get delayed which can have a knock on impact, some pax show up some don't, some pax get hurt when away and didn't need the lift on their outbound but need it on the return, staff call in sick, there are more flights in Summer than Winter and during the day than at night so some times are busier than others, there could just be need of the ambi lift at many planes at the same time, there will be other things that impact too.

I'm not saying it's right or fair but airports cannot provide an ambi lift at every gate all the time. It's impossible.

It would have been highlighted by the crew, hopefully their cabin manager/ supervisor would report it as legally crew have to have a certain amount of 'rest' between flights and this can impact this.

I have been on flights where pax have decided to walk rather than wait for the ambi lift "because it's so inconvenient to wait". I've also waited a long time with my son who could not manage the steps.

My biggest gripe is with those that abuse the system's making it harder for those that really need the help.

"They know people are coming in who need this though, we have to book. So they should have enough..."

That's the ideal but in the real world some airports some times of day you get a surge of arrivals (e.g. Heathrow, Long Haul arrivals after around 0430-0500) and there's a tremendous demand for all the various forms of Meet and Assist services, from wheelchairs/buggies needed from the aircraft door through the terminal through to the.whole ambi-lift process.

Unless the service providers have an almost infinite number of vehicles and crews there's going to almost always be some delay, certainly during peak periods.

@SupernaturalAddict everyone on my flight I think was genuine. As I said a women got down the stairs on her bum. One man went down walking very very slowly. So would have held passengers up if he had not opted for ambi lift. He was quite elderly.

@Jintx that is awful. If they are being noisy they could be anywhere. Your poor son.

@notimagain this is a regional airport and I was not long haul. I rarely have had issues long haul because they usually don't use stairs but a tunnel. It's short haul where there is always an issue.

Airports have to have enough stairs to get people who can walk off flights. When I could use them I never waited more than fifteen minutes and that was rare. So they have enough equipment for able bodied passengers. I don't see why it should be different for disabled passengers

If every flight arriving at a similar time as yours required the lift, it would be impossible for them all to have it. It just isn't practical.

It happens a lot. They don't have enough lifts. They need to get more.

It's also incredibly common to have one member of staff trying to push two wheelchairs.

At the same time?

I can't even begin to imagine how that'd work, let alone be incredibly common.

YANBU.

@ShitFacedShakespeare they push one wheelchair a little bit. Stop it and go get the other one and push that a little way.

Ideally yes and staff to use them and then support people through the airport or until they get their own equipment but they are businesses and the extra's that this requires would be redundant for a large amount of time. It just isn't reasonable (as in terms of reasonable adjustments).

@SupernaturalAddict so disabled people just have to accept routinely waiting ages for the ambi lift?
I suspect fewer disabled people will fly as it is just too difficult. For a start we have to strictly organise our transport from the airport. We can't just hop on public transport or take any taxi at the airport. So a long delay makes onward travel precarious.

Yes but even with strict use, the noise is often created by the NT siblings.

Or Children who are ND and have loud ticks/verbal outbursts.

It can be very difficult to keep a quiet area quiet.

I went down the stairs at Zurich on my bum.

safer than walking (apparently a head of state from some African country had flown in and the smbilift was the other side of his cars).

I do use public transport from airports sometimes. Wheelchair accessible taxis or train.

I will just add some airports insist you use the ambilift when you don’t need it. My son is a wheelchair user. But he can climb the stairs of the plane. What he can’t do is manage an airport wheelchair, nor distances but if he has his chair that’s all we need. We won’t leave the plane without it now. It costs £7k. So no I won’t go in the ambilift in an airport chair which does not fit him and may cause pain in the hope we’ll get the chair somewhere at some point. We’ll wait. But once we have it if the lifts work we can do what anyone else does. But the system sometimes sends us a lift we don’t need. And it sometimes does something different even though we go through the same airport.