A personal recollection on air travel from a wheelchair user

This past week, I attended a lengthy and historic Department of Transportation (DOT) about air travel for wheelchair users with around 1500 people in attendance. The Transportation Secretary himself spoke. The discussion started with the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) but opened up to focus on experiences of air travelers. I heard horror stories about wheelchairs and other mobility devices being destroyed or even entirely lost because they went on airplanes.

These traumas reminded me of my own horrible time in an airport. In 2012, I went to Pakistan and came back with my younger sister (she was 18 and I was 20). Flying back, we arrived in the massive JFK airport – they were supposed to give wheelchair assistance (it was requested) to the next flight. But they never came and time began to run short so we had to go walk quickly. …Only for more waiting. I remember sitting on the luggage while in line and my sister had to go ask for help. We walked more without help and missed the flight – though they gave us a hotel room, we were ecstatic to leave JFK behind. But afterwards, my legs felt very numb and kinda shaky. They held my weight but with far less confidence. For a long time, I felt entirely unlike myself. Really weird feeling. A few months later, doctors told me that I had overexerted myself (which is rather bad for my condition).  Though I heard of worse stories in the meeting – such as people suffering open wounds from poor treatment – I see this event as a turning point for my condition.    

My JFK saga lives on. Ten years later, I am well recovered. Last year, a fellow Toastmaster pointed out how much stronger I had become since 2016 (when we had met). The presenters in the DOT meeting reminded me of the struggles many still face for air travel. They helped me realize how absolutely right my mother was to place demands on the airport, airlines, and staff to help me travel through air. Even simple things like calling 2 days ahead to report taking a scooter onboard. Those actions were all in fact, as I learned from this event, best practice with the current airport setup for wheelchair users. Imagine that, my mom understood the air travel system after arranging my flights for years on end. After three hours, I decided to move on to give myself space to process everything I just learned.