Seven years after Tim Rose was denied access to an Air Canada flight because of the size of his power wheelchair, the Canadian Transportation Agency ruled the country's largest airline needs to do more to accommodate passengers with mobility devices.
Rose, who lives in Toronto, was planning a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, in 2016 to give a presentation on disability awareness and big business. When he tried to book his flight over the phone, Air Canada said his wheelchair — a device custom designed for his body that provides him with his independence — was like a piece of oversized luggage: if it didn't fit, it didn't fit. As a result, he had to drive.
During the hearing, Air Canada argued that Rose was the only person who had been refused transport because a plane travelling across the border couldn't fit their wheelchair. As a result of the ruling, the airline will have to find passengers with wheelchairs that don't fit on select airplanes a similar flight in its own network or with another carrier that can accommodate. If Air Canada books passengers on another carrier, it will need to pay the price difference.
"This includes evaluating its extremely complex requirements that we substitute aircraft on an ad hoc basis and what effects this would have on other customers and our regular schedule and operations," Peter Fitzpatrick said via email.Others in the disability community are glad to see the ruling in Rose's favour, but say other problems persist when it comes to flying with a wheelchair — including damage when the custom devices are in the cargo hold.
Maayan Ziv, founder of Access Now, said planes are one of the only forms of transit where wheelchair users can't stay in their chairs.
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