Frontier Airlines CEO urges crackdown of ‘rampant abuse’ of airport wheelchair service

I remember some time ago we were on the NOPAC route heading to Vancouver and I asked the cabin manager for any requirements on landing. 25 wheelchairs…..through immigration we saw the stream of wheelchairs then a team of people collecting their bags. Once outside the terminal most of those ‘wheelchair’ people got up, collected their bags and briskly walked to the taxi rank. Similar thing happened in Singapore. Some people will always try to take advantage of others. Maybe the world education system should introduce a course on common decency.

Why not have persons requesting wheelchair service bring along their handicap parking permit and the identification that goes with it certify that it is indeed for them, not someone else? As a handicapped person who requires wheelchair service, I wouldn't mind the extra step.

Certain cultures see this as a perceived freeby and abuse it accordingly. They couldn't care less about those who actually need the chair. The test however is when they are made to wait for available chairs, quite a while after the last pax has departed. As a flight Attendant I have seen many miracles of healing onboard when these people decide that its not worth the wait so actually use their legs as they were intended. And I say this not to he racist, it's an observable fact, every single day. The culture will remain unidentified.....

Air travel has become just like a trip to Walmart.

This isn't an easy nut to crack. My wife carries a permanent injury as a result of a leg crush getting from a cruise shit to a tender in malacca. This means it puts her in a fair amount of pain walking long distances in airports and finds steps and stairs difficult. She doesn't seek disabled assistance, nor carries any disabled card etc. Part of the problem she has is not knowing the gate distance or if an airbridge is going to be used in advance of the instant. .... difficult,

A fee should be introduced. A person on a wheelchair should not be wearing 4” spike heels.

On the other hand, my paraplegic brother doesn't fly any more because of the incredible hassle and extra time, plus it seems things regularly got messed up causing stress for everyone.
No doubt these jerks abusing the service are making it even worse for those in genuine need.

Air Marshals call those "Miracles". What worries me is the preboards that can barely walk sitting in the exit row once I get on the plane.

One way that might prevent abuse: All wheelchair users exit the plane last, rather than first to hold up the hundreds of other people behind them trying to make connections. That will be $10,000, thank you!

I personally believe it's the duty-free shops. On our last flight back from Mauritius i saw a lady walking around in the duty-free shop and she was fine. Walking and laughing. The next time i saw her she was being pushed in a wheelchair past us to the front of the boarding que. The poor woman could not even stand or walk without assistance. I saw her again 5 hrs later in OR Tambo airport and i am happy to report that she made a full recovery, And you say miracles do not happen anymore, I am never ever going into a duty-free shop again

I won't say which airline and I won't say which destination.But we have witnessed many times over people who say they require assistance getting to the boarding gate , getting onto the plane and getting off the plane, and then see them happily walking on the beach with a beer in their hand later. I think that wheelchair assistance should be only given with a note from a Doctor.

I totally agree with this request. Last week, during a recent flight to San Francisco, I see while waiting at the queue for passport control, almost 30 persons desembarking from a flight, waiting at a separate queue, all of them in wheelchair....Obviously fake ! A really annoying swindling, and an insult for all other people waiting for hours....

Please keep comments on aviation topics, thank you.

My 87 year old wife has difficulty walking and early this year received her blue parking pass. We requested airport assistance from AC and TAP for our YYZ to LIS and transfer to FAO this winter. It was an amazing experience from a number of wonderful airport employees who met her in the airports and pushed her in wheelchairs through check-ins, security, luggage, customs at every stage of the return trips. This included an elevating transporter because of the tarmac steps in FAO and as the lone travellers with three yellow vested employees escorting us beside the runways and right to the luggage carousels. Without this amazing service, she would have been unable to make the trip. I agree with the suggestion that the doctor approved blue parking sticker could be used to avoid abuse as we did not have to justify the need for the wheelchair at any point in the ticket purchases or travel. If a traveller can afford to fly, it is not unreasonable to add a modest fee for this currently free service.

Check the carryons at the gate for the wheelchair person to avoid the strain of dragging the bags on and off of the aircraft.

Miracle flights to Florida from the Northeast in the winter are many. They depart via wheelchair and then are the first to stand up on arrival at the gate. Don't get in their way either.

Truly how can you enforce this? Just when you suspect someone of faking a medical condition requiring a wheelchair, you later find out that person really did, and now you're facing a potential lawsuit.

there is another side to this story..many poeple who need assistance to walk long distances in an airport are honest and DO need the skycaps or whomever to get them to the gate more quickly..also,no one mentions the many travellers who,rather than ask for wheelchair assist,ask for an electric cart,which is just a golf cart without a top,to get them even faster to the gate..this service is not usually abused,because its more selective ,and usually there are only one or two carts at most provided by any airline..at some point,you have to believe a person is being honest about the use of assistance,because no one is "grilled" at the ticket counter with regard to the service..which by the way,is provided free to passengers (however you need to tip the sky cap)...asking for a ""doctors excuse" or proof of disability would be an insult to lots of folks,and the hassle or argument involved might take more time than necessary..

Fell off a safari vehicle in Botswana. Hurt my foot. Didn't need a doctor ( there wasn't one for 100 miles or more) but it hurt like hell. The woman who was running the safari camp managed to get me all the way from Botswana to Phoenix with wheelchair assistance. Botswana -Joburg-Nairobi-Doha-San Francisco-Phoenix-My car. In Nairobi there was no jetway. I would have to either climb the long stairway to the plane door or be lifted onto the plane. The forklift that lifts your food into the galley was used to lift me and my wheelchair onto the plane where a flight attendant took me to my seat and returned the wheelchair to the attendant. No way could I have gotten through the Doha airport without assistance. And yes, a few other people needed wheelchairs to get on the San Francisco flight. I chose to wait until the plane deboarded in SFO. Then I had to deal with Customs and Immigration on my own. Luggage, camera equipment, carry on was a vicious struggle even with Global Entry. Without it it would have been torture as the lines were enormous. Got my next wheelchair from American and moved on. Good thing I didn't need a handicapped hang tag like some of you suggested.

Abuse is alive and well at DFW particularly flights to the Middle East. Long lines of wheelchairs lined up at the gate is ridiculous. The fake wheelchair uses are skewing the system They have broken the code. They go through security check points also on a preferential basis. Idea. Load the wheelchair riders last.

This is not a problem that will go away soon. Just like there are doctors online, who, for a fee, will give you a letter declaring your disability to get a handicapped parking placard. Perhaps the airlines can request passengers prove disabilities at the time they book their flights.

Require a handicapped tag/id. Problem solved.

As always,there are many sides to this. I am a professional who is disabled but you don't see my AFO under my clothes nor the cardiac which leave me short of breath. It is already degrading enough to be disabled and making me wait for the chair or made to be the last person off the plane signals that I am a subhuman and I'm not as important as other people. Time is important and I will not wait 30 minutes for a chair at busy airports. I try to arrive early to avoid the anxiety of cutting it close but then the wheelchair wait puts me into the last minute stage. So if I have time, I will walk but it leaves me exhausted by the time I reach the gate. The same with walking on the other side. Many airports wait until there are two people and one person pushes both. Not only is this physically abusive to the aide but makes me feel like a commodity. So sometimes I'll walk if I have plenty of time. But the physical toll is hidden. So don't just assume that the WC user is abusing because they "look ok" to you

What a world.

Tough to prove who REALLY needs a wheelchair and who doesn't. Worse, for those who are legitimate, it would be awful to add an additional layer of suffering to the already difficult voyage. (Once onboard, most jets are not handicap-friendly). And any airline willing to deny a wheelchair to a healthy-looking individual might have to face a lawsuit later on.
A way to cut down on the false reporting: 1) legal handicap card, 2) legal doctor's note 3) And for all others a detailed and somewhat time-consuming form to be completed prior to obtaining a wheelchair, including a sworn statement.

Really? The people who book the cheapest possible flights are scumbags? Never saw that one coming.

Miracle miles, miraculously healed again!

Charge a substantial fee for anyone requesting wheelchair support to board a plane. If that passenger requires wheelchair support on landing, immediately refund their entire fee. If that passenger doesn't use wheelchair support on landing, they forfeit their fee. A bit cumbersome perhaps, but with most charges these days being processed electronically the extra steps should have minimal impact on passengers. Perhaps there could even be special charge cards or smartphone apps developed to make this process really painless. Charging a hefty fee, I think, would deter many fakers. Those who continued to abuse wheelchair support would pay for their selfishness. And their forfeited faker fees could even be used to reduce the fees of people on their flights who legitimately requested and used wheelchair support. I'll bet some good hearted software developers or organizations might be persuaded to develop trial versions of the necessary smartphone apps to see if this concept would help the 'rampant abuse' of airport wheelchair service.

I lived near FLL, Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International for about 9 years. Five to seven wheelchairs on every flight. But many of those flights were on SWA (IYKYK). Now travel there once a month on either UA or JB and see three to four per flight, but all the flights I'm on are 737's or A320's. And so many of these persons rush to the jetway when deplaning. The jetways at both EWR and FLL are congested with wheelchairs and the personnel pushing them making the whole process more time consuming and difficult for all passengers.

A flight from India has on average 80 wheelchairs…

I would consider a chair while in line and waiting due to hips and knees but might consider not necessary at the easier process of disembarking..not all are faking imnsho

I agree it's a problem. Would me showing my surgical scar on my spine work as proof of needing assistance?

Why not make it an optional paid service? In a cost sensitive economy like ours in India, it was tried for a brief period, but then the regulator mandated that it must be free.

The problem is one of determination of ability. Who is qualified to evaluate "wheelchair disability?" Many major airports are a quarter mile or more from gate to gate (I live with KDEN as an example.) Should we add yet another regulation requiring physician orders similar to the handicap parking tags for cars? Who determines the penalty and how do they enforce it? How difficult and expensive would it be to take contested violations to court? Seems that enforcement would be more expensive than the violations.

I often use the wheelchair services, primarily when I have to transfer concourses for a flight transfer. I can walk slowly, and with difficulty, so a rapid transfer requires assistance. Yes, I can walk down the jetway. And yes - you might see me walking on the beach - with my cane. But since mine is a relatively "hidden" disability (deformed hips) you might decide I'm one of those fraudsters. If a disability care is required - I'd be fine. I have one and always take it on trips. But what if you don't drive? How do you prove you're "privileged" to use the wheelchair?

We have had this discussion before. There are absolutely people who need help. As Bob said, navigating airports, especially large ones with long lines may mean I will collapse, which causes more problems and will guarantee I miss the flight. So a wheelchair becomes essential for me. I prefer to walk, but I must use a cane, and often my walk is more of a hobble - but when I debark I prefer to walk for a variety of reasons. There is no time pressure as an element - but if I need to go through a lot of concourses to get to a connecting flight I will flag down a wheelchair. Now, for those faking it - they have no shame and should be penalized the same as parking in a handicap spot. I agreed with a number of people who suggested we register with the airline before hand. There are a number of ways without using a doctor's note - I have a letter from the VA stating I am 100% disabled, which is obvious when you look at me. That being said, my neurological issues are not evident all the time. Disabled status is easily verifiable electronically through trusted sources. For others there are cards that can be issued at different governmental levels. The airline gets better notice and helps reduce the fakers - helping prices, loading and unloading, safety issues both on and off the aircraft and a better experience for all.

When given a handicap tag does it not require you to have the wallet card? This could be a requirement to even get the chair for use.

The real question is whether to trust everyone or distrust everyone and get upset at occasional abuses that really aren't that big a deal except to bean counters.

The degree of disability may not be apparent as includes fatigue and weakness, and this problem will increase as a result of adverse effects of vaccines.

WOW! What does he suggest? Don't fly? I needed wheelchair service or can't fly. I Definitely will not fly "Frontier"!