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.

I really feel it depends on the airport. Dh is sight impaired, always books assistance and cant use aircraft steps as they move and bounce,( tried once and fell) We will no longer fly from our nearest airport ,Manchester, due to our experiances there 1hour 40 mins awating pick up, please push chair yourself, and no you cant have priority boarding , despite it being booked as we forgot. ( the faces of the flight crew when he took approx 5 mins to get to his seat from the door and held up the whole plane were intresting. ) Liverpool and Leeds are as a whole much better Having said that on our last jet 2 flight home it was intresting to see several "disabled" passangers needing the ambulift to board walk down the steps with ease when it was made clear only one person could escort those on the amublift. Obvs all wanted priority boarding from spain.

@SupernaturalAddict it is not a one off unlucky experience. It is not uncommon.
We have to book disability assistance in advance. If the admin system for informing the airport is poor, then that needs changing. There is zero reason to accept it as the way it is. I know absolute final numbers cannot be confirmed until people are on the flight. But given we have to give at least 48 hours notice, there is no reason why that info cannot be available to the airport at that point, or very soon after.

And there are never enough staff. I have never been in a UK airport where there is not either a shortage of staff e.g. one person pushing two wheelchairs, or the staff are not running around incredibly busy and often saying they have no time to stop at toilets.

If I thought going business class would make a difference I would pay for it. But it's still the one ambi lift and would make zero difference to the overall experience.

It's clear airports do the absolute minimum to meet the law.

Our experience with my FIL was positive. Boarded first, disembarked last, after a wait, but were then quickly taken through passport control. Swings and roundabouts for us. My FIL, who always has a lot to say for himself, was very complementary about the staff.

It’s not just the ambulift. Our local airport has 7 lifts and only 2 aisle chairs. Last time we flew we waited over 2 hours for an aisle chair. One was in use and they couldn’t find the other one. We were the last flight in that evening and basically held the airport open until we could get off and though passport control etc.

Another thing that really bugs me is when people book assistance and the decide they don’t need it when it takes too long meaning staff waste even more time looking for missing passengers who have booked assistance.

And don’t get me started on people who book extra cabin bags as medical bags when they don’t need them. We can not travel without extra cabin allowance and I am so worried this accommodation will get withdrawn due to misuse.

Exactly, I posted earlier and was let down at Barcelona airport going back to Gatwick, I arrived early, and with my brother who lives there.
At 5.05 pm, he inquired about my assistance, to be told I’d have to go to security alone, and then had to ask a man, if I’d catch my plane at 5.30pm, I ached and felt awful . I have mid stage Parkinson’s at 64
The other 4 passengers got assistance and not me

It normally is, Monday 7/9 the only time I’ve had issues

As I wrote earlier I know assistance is *usually (not everyone does and it doexn't remove the need if they've already got on the flight at the outbound airport/ they still need to get off the plane onceit's landed) booked in advance but it doesn't really make a difference in terms of getting off the plane. Fd notify the ground of those numbers and if they require the lift. At some airports steps and airbridges are used by the same aircraft and airline so if the lift is required may not even be known until the FD are told which gate to taxi to after landing. It really isn't as simple as notifying the airline before you travel. Throw in planes being delayed on stand or at a gate (taking up a space with an airbridge), staff sickness (drivers are still required to drive the lift/ operators to use it), equipment breaking etc

Advocate and fight for change- i'd love that ideal world for my son but it's a losing battle and I do honestly believe that the majority of pax have a decent experience.