cookie-dough-survival-kit:

phoenixonwheels:

cotchrocket:

haiku-robot:

prismatic-bell:

typical-atheist-scumbag:

coolmanfromthepast:

thefreakhasgreeneyes:

phoenixonwheels:

phoenixonwheels:

Just for once I’d like to tell the gate agents and flight attendants that my folding wheelchair is going into the onboard closet and not have them tell me there’s “no room”. Bitch that’s a wheelchair closet, not a “your bags” closet. Move your damn bags where they belong.

Ok, so according to my friendly aviation expert, this is a Big Fucking Deal. In fact, if an airline argues with you about putting your wheelchair in the wheelchair closet or even suggests there may not be room, unless there is already another passenger’s wheelchair in that closet, they have violated federal law.

CFR Title 14, Chapter II, Subchapter D, Part 382, Subpart E, Section 382.67, Subsection (e)

“As a carrier, you must never request or suggest that a passenger not stow his or her wheelchair in the cabin to accommodate other passengers (e.g., informing a passenger that stowing his or her wheelchair in the cabin will require other passengers to be removed from the flight), or for any other non-safety related reason (e.g., that it is easier for the carrier if the wheelchair is stowed in the cargo compartment).”

Source

This is hugely important because it means that if this happens to you, you should report their asses to the DOT. Why? Because these statistics are published every year for every airline, and the airline gets a huge ass fine for every violation. If we want to see change, we need to make airlines literally pay every time they treat us this way.

@annieelainey you should share this with your followers! This is important info!!

To my mutuals on wheels, print out the law before you fly and whip it out at the gate if they don’t accomodate your wheels.

Thanks a lot for posting this, bro! Flying while crippled is already difficult enough without people pulling this kind of shit. Also, make sure that if there is a piece of your wheelchair or something important missing off of it, that you make a big fucking deal out of it! I’ve had pieces fall off of my wheelchair and nearly lost a decoration I had on it that meant a lot to me because people were careless with my chair. Don’t let them mistreat your wheelchair.

Non-wheelchair folks:

Now that you know, speak up.

You never know when you’re going to see someone who needs an ally.

you never know when

you’re going to see someone

who needs an ally

---

^Haiku^{^bot^9. I detect haikus with 5-7-5 format. Sometimes I make mistakes.}

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This whole thing is so confusing to me. Most of the airplanes I see every day (and I work on commercial passenger airplanes every day) don’t even have a closet, Nevermind one specifically for a wheelchair. Our average seat load is about 150, so these are not tiny planes. The only wheelchair stowage I know of is for the inflight aisle chair which is already in there.

Holy fuck I am tired of having this conversation. Under US law, any plane with 100 or more seats must have an onboard wheelchair closet that will hold a folding wheelchair that is 13" x 36" x 42" or smaller when folded. (Source) Anything else in there, including other passengers’ stuff, the aisle wheelchair, or the flight attendants’ luggage has to come out.

Ҥ382.123 What are the requirements concerning priority cabin stowage for wheelchairs and other assistive devices?

“You must move items that you or your personnel have placed in the priority stowage area (e.g., crew luggage, an on-board wheelchair) to make room for the passenger’s wheelchair, even if these items were stowed in the priority stowage area before the passenger seeking to stow a wheelchair boarded the aircraft (e.g., the items were placed there on a previous leg of the flight).”

(Source)

That closet is not there to store the aisle wheelchair, or your luggage, or the first class passengers’ coats. That closet is there to store disabled passengers’ wheelchairs. There is literally a sign on the damn closet telling you that. Have you been closing your eyes every time you pass the wheelchair closet?

Here is the sign that is, by law, posted on every wheelchair closet on every damn plane.

If the plane doesn’t have a wheelchair closet, then by law you have to strap the passenger’s wheelchair to the seats, even if you have to pull a paying passenger off the plane to make room for it. Clearly since you don’t even know the goddamned law you’ve never seen that done, so here’s what it looks like. (Photo courtesy of @cookie-dough-survival-kit who knows her rights and is making the damn airlines do what they are required by law to do.)

You, as an airline employee that interacts with the public, are required by law to know the Air Carrier Access Act in full. There is zero excuse for you to not know this law. Stop arguing with disabled people, you fucking ableist asshole, and learn the law that you are legally required to know. And while you’re at it, kiss the goddamned ground and thank whatever gods you believe in that nobody has reported your ignorant, ableist ass to the Department of Transportation for violating the Air Carrier Access Act. How do I know that? Because if they had, your airline would have had to pay thousands of dollars in fines, and you would have been fired.

You can find the entire Air Carrier Access Act, which specifically includes a section that states that you, as an airline employee who interacts with the public, must by law know the damn Air Carrier Access Act, here.

^^