Experiences of Disabled People in using Air transport

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1. Dear Sanjeev and Friends,

Greetings,

During my recent return journey from Kolkata to Bangalore by AIR DECCAN on 18th Nov 2007, I was asked to fill the "APPLICATION FOR THE CARRIAGE OF MEDICAL PASSENGER" as I use a wheelchair. I did argue that I am not a "MEDICAL PASSENGER" but the ground staff were in no mood to listen. Therefore I filled in the form during check-in but delibrately did not submit the same while boarding the aircraft.

The most offending paragaraph in the scanned document that we as passeners are forced to sign reads as follows -

"I the undersigned .....hereby indemnify and hold harmless, DECCAN from any and against any liability arising out of any bodily injury, and / or death. damage or loss that I may suffer/ experience and also from any damages, payments, expenses, face and cost which DECCAN may incur directly or indirectly as a result of accepting me on its Flight No. .........from ....... to ...... on date.....

I hereby further indemnify DECCAN from any payments that DECCAN makes to meet any of my expenses towards damages, loss etc for the said purpose."

Despite DGCA's new Guidelines on "Carriage by Air of Disabled Persons or Persons with Reduced Mobility" that is going to come into effect from 1st Jan 2008, I am not aware if any strategy for dissemenation/ training has been planned for all the ground staff of the different airlines at the airports on the need to "Respect the Rights and Dignity of Passengers with Disabilities"...

So much for now...

With warm regards

Mahesh

2. On Dec 18, 2007 1:07 PM, sanjeev sachdeva <sanjeevsach@hotmail.com> wrote:

Respected all,
Kindly go through the following content. How is ur experince off late.

Following is the experience of traveling by private airline company JETLITE recently.

A person with disability including wheelchair users are forced to sign an APPLICATION FOR THE CARRIAGE OF MEDICAL PASSENGER-which to my mind and understanding is meant for persons with disabilities. However, it appears only the "VISIBLE" health conditions I.E ., using mobility aids like walkers, sticks, wheel chairs, stretchers are targeted for filling up the above mentioned application. Personally I felt very bad to sign the application but had no choice because the airline can deny one to fly…………………………….

The application reads like this

I the under signed…………………………hereby indemnify and hold harmless Air Sahara from and against any liability arising out of any bodily injury and / or death, damage or loss that may suffer / experience and also from any damages, payments, expenses, face and cost which Air Sahara may incur directly as a result of accepting me on its Flight No……….. from………….to………………no……………….

I hereby further indemnify Air Sahara for any payments that Air Sahara makes to meet any of my expenses towards damages, loss etc. for the said purpose.

Signature………………………(Passenger)

The application with words as a result of accepting me sounds prejudice, embarrassing, derogatory and a favour doled out to a passenger with disability, who is also traveling on a fully pay ticket.

In the event of some unfortunate incident causing bodily injury and / or death during the course of flight, it appears NO INSURANCE can be claimed by the family of a person with disability. To the best of my knowledge all passengers on board are Insured.

The term FOR THE CARRIAGE OF MEDICAL PASSENGER - Senior Citizens (60+), Women in advanced stage of pregnancy, People with high blood-pressure, AIDS, people having temporary ailments like high grade viral fever, Severe chest congestion, cough and cold etc. Do they all have to sign this application?

India is one of the best TOURIST destinations- are we not discouraging a big untapped market of domestic and foreign tourist with disabilities and senior citizens to travel by private airlines.

(Sanjeev Sachdeva)

Founder, Samarthya-Mobility For All

9871045546

www.samarthyam.org

3.

Hi Rajiv Here is some more on the discrimination by the airlines... Kind regards Mahesh Mahesh This is for your information and useful for your case against the Private Airlines. Anjlee Duncan and Gretchen Foster < fosters@airtelbroadband.in> wrote: From: "Duncan and Gretchen Foster" <fosters@airtelbroadband.in> Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 17:07:20 +0530 Once again I call on you for help and advice, I copied you in on an e mail I sent to Miss Meenakshi Bhasin at Jet Airways on around the 15th June about how Jet Airways are still discriminating against Disabled travellers by not providing a safe way for Disabled passengers and Elderly people to get off and on their Aircrafts, you may remember I had the same experience with Jet in January of this year on a return journey from Nepal. Some people may think I maybe shouldn't have flown with Jet again after my last experience in January of this year but as I had been ill I had to cancel my flight with Thai Airways and when I was well enough to travel Jet were the only airline who had availability to Bangkok. At first I told my husband I was not flying with Jet and I would rather stay at home in Delhi, however my husband reminded me that Miss Bhasin had assured as in February that Jet had ambu lifts and low level buses now in Delhi International Airport, she also assured me if I flew with Jet again I would have a pleasant journey, so hence the reason I chose Jet. This time my wheelchair was also damaged by Jet Airways although we did not notice it until we arrived home. Luckily my husband was pushing me as the small wheel at the front fell off, the nut that holds the bolt in place was missing and also the brake on the right side of my chair was bent which means the brake does not work properly making it unsafe. We were able to find a nut to secure the wheel but the brake is not repairable and we will have to send to the UK for a replacement. My chair is not a fashion accessory, it's not like a pair of shoes, if a heel brakes you chose another pair from the wardrobe, I have only one chair and it's my means and only means of getting around within my home as well as outside. Jet doesn't seem to care about the damage to my chair either. I have asked Jet to compensate me by returning the cost of my airfare as well as the cost of repairing my chair as for a second time they treated me so badly As I have already said I have e mailed Miss Bhasin at least twice and after my first e mail she replied very briefly, her reply I have copied and pasted to this e mail but she has not replied to any other e mails nor has she said whether the investigation is still on going. I feel that she is now ignoring my e mails ' Dear Mrs Foster, I am in receipt of your email which has detailed account of your travel experience on Jet Airways.It is very disheartening to know the inconvenience you had to go through. An inquiry is being conducted for the same.Would get back to you at the earliest.' I was upset to think that she thought it was just an 'inconvenience', to me! I was a very frightened Disabled passenger who was faced with 2 means of getting off their aircraft, both were extremely dangerous 1/ was to be carried down the aircraft stairs by 4 men in a chair or 2/ walk down myself using my crutch and the hand rail. I chose the 2nd. I know you have contacts within the Government who deal with Disabled rights please can you pass this e mail to him and anyone else who you think can help address this problem with Jet Airways? My husband is speaking to various departments in the British High Commission who have dealings with Jet Airways. I am going to contact a newspaper here in Delhi as well as the UK, would be disabled travellers have a right to know about the unsafe practises of Airlines. In February I received an e mail from the Airport Authorities asking for details of my complaint against Jet, I think your contacts must have contacted them. Sadly though I never heard anymore from the Airport Authorities not even when I sent them an e mail asking what their findings were. Can you tell me if India have health and safety regulations? In developed countries it would be against the law for 4 men to carry a passenger in a chair down the stairs or up the stairs of an Aircraft. I have travelled a lot but I had never, ever seen Disabled passengers carried off a an Aircraft until I came to India. This practise is unsafe for the passenger and the carriers, it's also frightening and humiliating for the Disabled passenger I travelled to Vietnam in October last year and at no time not even at their domestic airports was I carried upstairs onto an aircraft, ambu lifts were always used. I stopped using India's domestic travel because of being carried up and down from aircrafts which sadly meant I didn't get to see parts of India that I would have liked to have seen. In 2010 Delhi is holding the Commonwealth games and the city will hopefully be visited by thousands of Western people of which some will be disabled, how are the Indian Government going to ensure that the Disabled travellers do not get subjected to the experiences that I have gone through with Jet twice now? I feel as though no one in India cares about Disabled rights, if they did Airlines would not be allowed to carry passengers to and from aircrafts. The Government have tried to make historical places of interest wheelchair accessible but they have not done anything to improve travel for Disabled travellers, I think so many Disabled people are put off coming to this country because of the lack of infrastructure, I only hope it changes before 2010. The British High Commission received a complaint from a Disabled Indian National that our Visa vacillating Office did not have Disabled access, it was immediately changed to give access. If someone in a wheelchair goes out to shop here other than in the new malls they need a carer as there are not even dips in paths to allow wheelchairs access, who do we complain to? I hope you are able to help me with the Jet Airways issue Kind Regards Gretchen Foster C. Mahesh Advocacy Coordinator CBR Forum 14, CK Garden Wheeler Road Extension Bangalore - 560 084 Tel - 080- 2549 7387 or 2549 7388 advocacy.cbrforum@gmail.com cbrforum@blr.vsnl.net.in cbrforum@gmail.com

This is another case of blatant discrimination against persons with disabilities by JetStar...

Kind regards
Mahesh


Gunawathy Fernandez <gunacbm@bgl.vsnl.net.in> wrote:

From: "Gunawathy Fernandez" <gunacbm@bgl.vsnl.net.in>

Subject: Fw: [Exco] TIME TO RALLY THE TROOPS
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:41:19 +0530

FYI and relevant action

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rainer Guetler"


Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 12:12 PM
Subject: FW: [Exco] TIME TO RALLY THE TROOPS


> Dear all,
>
> Please see terrible incident with JetStar Airways below. Please forward to
> relevant partners.
>
> I am copying also Guna and Silvana in as JetStar is present in their
> regions.
>
> Best regards
> Rainer
>
>
> Rainer Guetler
> Regional Director
> CBM Central East Asia Regional Office
> 37 Inthamara Soi 7, Suthisarn Road
> Bangkok 10400 Thailand
> Phone: +66-2-616 9920; +66-2-271 2457 Ext. 104
> Fax: +66-2-616 8371
>
> CBM aims at improving quality of life of the world's poorest people with
> disabilities - www.cbm.org
>
> > "Larry Campbell"
> Sent by: exco-bounces@icevi.org
> 17.06.2007 14:45
>
>
> , Yuga Shankar
> Subject
> [Exco] TIME TO RALLY THE TROOPS

> Hi William and Penny:
>
> Greeting from Vietnam where ON-NET has just concluded a very successful
> two week course on Jaws Scripting for 10 very bright young blind persons
> from throughout Southeast Asia. When we had the final dinner on Friday
> night I was feeling great because everything had gone so well.
>
> This morning when I met Phuc (the organizer and trainer) at the airport
> in Ho Chi Minh City to fly to Hanoi he told me that on Saturday morning
> Jet Star had refused to board Sugiyo (one of the Indonesian
> participants) because he was "blind and travelling unaccompanied". Phuc,
> who is himself blind, and Sugiyo argued strenuously but to no avail.
> Even when sighted passengers came forward to offer assistance Jet Star
> told them they would only board Sugiyo if the sighted passenger offering
> assistance agreed to sign a legal form assuming all responsibility. You
> can imagine what a totally humiliting situation this was for Sugiyo and
> you can also probably tell that my blood is still boiling as I write
> this.
>
> We really need to rally the troops again, but this time I think we need
> to do more than just write letters to this one airline (although that
> also must be done) and find a solution that gets at the root of this
> problem once and for all. On behalf of ICEVI we are willing to do
> whatever is needed to get this situation addressed. However, I think you
> will agree that this is one where the WBU needs to be in the lead as the
> organization of blind people. I hope you will share this with your
> people and of course I intend to do the same with ICEVI's network. I
> hope after you have had the chance to consult with your folks we can put
> together an effective strategy to deal with this once and for all.
>
> I look foward to hearing from you.
>

Disability Rights Now!

C Mahesh

mahesh_mobility@yahoo.com

www.geocities.com/mahesh_mobility

5. (Resending with the Attachments)

Dear Friends,

Greetings,

I have filed a complaint with the Commissioner's office for Disabilities as some of the airlines such as Air Deccan have extra service charges and baggage charges for wheelchair users. And this is 'discrimination' and this practice is in violation of ' The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

Due to the process and the systems at the airports it is impossible for a wheelchair user and many persons with disabilities to go through all the required procedures without personal assistance. Due to security reasons, the airlines asks you to 'check-in' your personal wheelchair and the passenger is transferred to an inconvenient wheelchair that is provided by the airline. These wheelchairs are designed in such a way that it cannot be self-propelled. Therefore the passenger has no choice but to make use of the assistance provided the ground staff of the airline. The question is - Why should the passenger using the wheelchair pay extra? It is the airline and the airport authorities who have formed the rules and regulations and these are not planned by taking the needs of persons with disabilities.

What will the response be from the public if the airlines/ airport authorities charge extra from all the passengers for using the luggage trolleys? Will everyone accept or will there be protests?

Wheelchair users are paying the same price for the air-ticket just like everyone else. The so-called 50% concession provided by Indian (Indian Airlines) for passengers with over 80% disability is more expensive than general fares available for everyone. This provision is there just to boost the 'image' of Indian (Indian Airlines) as a 'Caring' air carrier and no one questions such 'good' actions.

Some of these 'discrimination against persons with disabilities' has been highlighted in the 'Bangalore Mirror' - Jun 22, 2007 issue on their Cover page and I have scanned these articles and attached with this mail.

After this bad publicity the 'smooth and sophisticated' Air Deccan are now claiming that they will not charge extra provided the passenger produces a 'Disability Certificate' and their Corporate Communications Manager has now informed that they would update this clause in the Terms and Conditions that is currently posted at http://www.flyairdeccan.net/Terms&Conditions.htm

The 'Bangalore Mirror' have also covered my recent experience where I had to fight with Indian (Indian Airlines) to get the reimbursement for the damages caused to my wheelchair due to the classlessness of their ground staff.

The time has come for all of us to join hands, come out in the open - to highlight and fight against the various forms of discrimination practiced against persons with disabilities.

Persons with disabilities and their families/ guardians have to challenge the system - access and enjoy their Rights and stop taking all the 'crap' that is disguised as 'care and benevolence'.

With kind regards

Mahesh

n
C. Mahesh
Advocacy Coordinator
CBR Forum
14, CK Garden
Wheeler Road Extension
Bangalore - 560 084
Tel - 080- 2549 7387 or 2549 7388
advocacy.cbrforum@gmail.com
cbrforum@blr.vsnl.net.in
cbrforum@gmail.com

6. --------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Prasad Phanasgaonkar <prasadpp@hotmail.com>

To: Global Partnership for Disability and Development <gpdd@lists.worldbank.org>

Hi,
belows my Grounded experience of Air travel
I had a bad experience and felt humiliated after purchasing air ticket of Mumbai-Dubai from Emirates. I had planned to celebrate 31 st with my friends in Dubai in 2006. I learnt Airline industry can transport dead body alone by flight but if one is on wheelchair he cannot travel alone even if its 2hrs flight. When I booked ticket had mentioned I am traveling alone. The Emirates helpdesk people said you don't have to worry we have whole lot of services for people in wheelchair and you can travel alone with us.
A day before flying I got a call you are not allowed to travel without assistant.
After planning for a month buying tickets, getting visa, booking hotels one Emirates airlines spoiled travel plans…and also lost visa money and ticket & hotel cancellations.
Its 2008 and doubt if any Airline company has come forward to start services for wheelchair users to travel alone or give free ticket for caregiver
Regards,
Prasad
+91-9821501718

email : prasadpp@hotmail.com

www.samarthatravels .com
homepage :
http://www.geocities.com/prasadpp_2000/
http://geocities.com/samarthatravels/