Summary
- Air Canada faced criticism for leaving Canada’s Chief Accessibility Officer’s wheelchair behind on a domestic flight.
- The officer emphasized that the lack of a wheelchair affects an individual’s independence, safety, mobility, and dignity, and airlines must prioritize the correct care of this essential equipment.
- Following reports of mistreatment of people with reduced mobility, Air Canada’s CEO acknowledged the challenges and promised changes, including improvements in training and equipment storage.
Air Canada was under fire after it had left Canada’s Chief Accessibility Officer’s (CAO) wheelchair on the origin airport in an incident that happened in October 2023. Stephanie Cadieux, Canada’s CAO, indicated she was traveling on a domestic Air Canada flight between Toronto and Vancouver. Arriving at her destination, she was left without her wheelchair.
Handling without proper care
In an initial statement after the flight, Cadieux tweeted on X, formerly generally known as Twitter, that Air Canada had left her wheelchair in Toronto, leaving her In a fast response, an airline’s representative said that it A follow-up tweet read that Cadieux’s wheelchair was in transit, emphasizing that accessibility is a priority to Air Canada.
After the incident, the Canadian Office of the Chief Accessibility Officer (Bureau de la dirigeante principale de l’accessibilité’s) released a press release on behalf of the CAO. The statement said that the experience was Cadieux noted that while she did Tweet concerning the experience, receiving an awesome response, she emphasized that she didn’t need to draw attention to her experience but slightly a wider issue inside Canada.
Continuing, Cadieux stated that Nonetheless, she added that airlines don’t treat these pieces of kit as essential as they need to and never properly maintain them when individuals who need wheelchairs travel. Based on her, the implications are only felt by the person slightly than the carrier, which is why airlines have “to do higher” and likewise claim responsibility every time such an incident happens.
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While the CAO said that she had been recently speaking quite a bit concerning the topic, including at an International Air Transport Association (IATA) conference, the handling of wheelchairs requires urgent corrective motion. Cadieux said.
Overhauling measures
After Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the Canadian public broadcaster, shared several reports and stories of how individuals with reduced mobility were treated while flying with Air Canada in November 2023, the carrier’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Rousseau promised changes. In a press release in early November 2023, Rousseau said that the airline
Photo: Tom Boon | Easy Flying
The chief admitted that the carrier at times, doesn’t meet that commitment, for which the corporate apologizes. Based on Rousseau, the foremost point that passengers with reduced mobility have emphasized over time is the continual improvement of their experience, which is why Air Canada has begun taking 4 immediate measures, including changes to training and storage of mobility aid equipment.
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