Summary
- Air Canada is implementing recent measures to enhance accessibility following criticism of its treatment of disabled passengers in a CBC documentary.
- In accordance with CEO Michael Rosseau, the airline will improve the boarding process, ensure mobility aids are stored properly, and enhance staff training.
- The exposé follows several high profile lapses in safety and support measures for disabled travelers, described by Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez as “horrific.”
Air Canada is ready to overhaul its current accessibility measures to support disabled passengers following the discharge of a scathing CBC documentary.
The Canadian flag carrier got here under criticism earlier this week following a report by CBC’s Marketplace highlighting major safety lapses within the airline’s boarding processes for patrons with disabilities.
Toronto-based Alessia Di Virgilio was accompanied by Marketplace during an Air Canada service from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Charlottetown Airport (YYG), during which Marketplace investigators captured shocking footage of airline staff by accident detaching Virgilio’s ventilator while struggling to board her. In one other incident in the course of the journey, a lift fell onto the ability wheelchair user’s head.
Chatting with CBC, Virgilio emphasized how the poor treatment left her feeling unsafe, overwhelmed, and terrified, particularly when Air Canada employees revealed their limited training on the equipment that that they had claimed to haven’t utilized in seven years.
Air Canada didn’t mention Virgilio’s case directly in an announcement shared on Thursday; nonetheless, it noted that it could implement a series of latest measures, including improving the boarding process, ensuring mobility aids are accessible through travel, and enhancing staff training to center its customers with disabilities. A brand new Director of Customer Accessibility position has been added to the airline’s senior team to oversee the implementation of its three-year accessibility strategy. CEO Michael Rosseau added,
Cautious optimism for change
Alongside its recent measures, the airline has also met with Minister of Transportation Pablo Rodriguez and Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Individuals with Disabilities Kamal Khera to debate its current approach to accessibility. In an announcement, Rodriguez claimed that the surge of incidents at Air Canada had left him horrified and urged the airline to regulate its policies,
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Easy Flying
Passenger Rodney Hodgins was left stranded by the airline at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in August during a visit together with his wife. In accordance with The Day by day Mail, Hodgins, who’s diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, was required to hoist himself up and crawl along the aircraft aisle after crew were unable to supply him with a wheelchair. Air Canada noted that it utilizes a 3rd company party for its accessibility operations in Las Vegas; nonetheless, Canada’s Transportation Agency (CTA) opened an investigation.
In one other incident from May 2023, British Columbia-based comic Ryan Lachance was left bed-bound for several days after ill-trained staff dropped him while attempting to lift him from his seat to his wheelchair.
AccessNow CEO Maayan Ziv’s wheelchair was broken following an 11-hour journey between Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) and Toronto back in 2022. In a post shared to social media site X, formerly Twitter, the incapacity advocate slammed the airline for stripping her of her independence. Chatting with CBC following the Marketplace exposé, Ziv expressed cautious optimism on the airline’s acknowledgment of its failures,
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