“We use the services of a third party wheelchair assistance specialist
I wonder what that corporate bullshit speak title actually stands for.
We don't need to accommodate disabled clients on every flight so we outsourced the service to the lowest bidder. What could possibly go wrong?
It means we don’t want to pay for our own wheelchairs so we let someone else handle that.
Someone who hangs out in a hidden corner somewhere, vaping and watching Netflix, until they get paged to go to work. Who doesn't get paid overtime and doesn't stick around after their shift ends, so any flights that arrive late are SoL.
I guess I'm lucky (or they have a note on file that I tip) because the one at SFO hangs out if my flight is late.
I use a wheelchair sometimes and know the answer to this - airlines pay the airport to handle the special assistance. AFAIK they’re not specialists as such, more like hospital porters. Getting onto the plane is just a small part of it. Once you arrive at the airport you’re met by someone with a wheelchair (if you don’t have your own) who fast tracks you through check in and security and pushes you to the gate. Then they come back when the plane is boarding and push you onto the ambilift - a kind of cherry picker platform thingy that lifts people in wheelchairs up to the plane door on the other side. Once you’re on board the cabin crew take care of you.
Just recently Ryanair left a disabled passenger on the tarmac and the plane had to be turned around to pick them up. Ryanair blamed Toulouse(?) airport as it was technically up to their assistance staff to get the passenger on board, and Ryanair pay the airport to do that.
Last month the assistance I booked didn’t turn up so my partner had to push me while I guided the suitcases from the chair. It was a pain in the arse but thankfully we were met at the gate and assisted onto the plane properly.
chair pusher
No pun intended?
The airlines don't own the airports. The rent out terminals and gates. Most of the time people need a wheelchair is throughout the airport, so the airport handles that. The times they are needed on the plane, the airline contracts out to the airport (or whatever service it uses) to extend service to the planes.
I wonder what that corporate bullshit speak title actually stands for.
We don't need to accommodate disabled clients on every flight so we outsourced the service to the lowest bidder. What could possibly go wrong?
It means we don’t want to pay for our own wheelchairs so we let someone else handle that.
Someone who hangs out in a hidden corner somewhere, vaping and watching Netflix, until they get paged to go to work. Who doesn't get paid overtime and doesn't stick around after their shift ends, so any flights that arrive late are SoL.
I guess I'm lucky (or they have a note on file that I tip) because the one at SFO hangs out if my flight is late.
I use a wheelchair sometimes and know the answer to this - airlines pay the airport to handle the special assistance. AFAIK they’re not specialists as such, more like hospital porters. Getting onto the plane is just a small part of it. Once you arrive at the airport you’re met by someone with a wheelchair (if you don’t have your own) who fast tracks you through check in and security and pushes you to the gate. Then they come back when the plane is boarding and push you onto the ambilift - a kind of cherry picker platform thingy that lifts people in wheelchairs up to the plane door on the other side. Once you’re on board the cabin crew take care of you.
Just recently Ryanair left a disabled passenger on the tarmac and the plane had to be turned around to pick them up. Ryanair blamed Toulouse(?) airport as it was technically up to their assistance staff to get the passenger on board, and Ryanair pay the airport to do that.
Last month the assistance I booked didn’t turn up so my partner had to push me while I guided the suitcases from the chair. It was a pain in the arse but thankfully we were met at the gate and assisted onto the plane properly.
chair pusher
No pun intended?
The airlines don't own the airports. The rent out terminals and gates. Most of the time people need a wheelchair is throughout the airport, so the airport handles that. The times they are needed on the plane, the airline contracts out to the airport (or whatever service it uses) to extend service to the planes.