Difficulties with purchasing tickets:-
The first difficulty I came across was getting on to the Canadian website. When I searched it on Google they kept taking me to the American website. After searching around, I noticed that at the top left, there is a menu button and we can choose the currency.
While on the menu I noticed an accessibility tab which I then went on to learn more about Air Canada’s accessibility. I found this very helpful.
Due to the fact that I require a support person, I was anxious about buying my ticket and not my support workers as I was worried that seats would be taken up. Therefore I decided to purchase her ticket as well and then send in the Fitness to travel Document which would then allow for a refund. There should be information online about having a guarantee that a support person will be allowed even if all the seats are taken.
One major difficulty I had was that after I purchased my tickets and after I called the medical team to advise them of my wheelchair dimensions they told me that my wheelchair would not fit the cargo and that I had to change my flight. This was a huge issue because I purchased an extra ticket for my sister to accompany me and the attendant told me that they would change my support workers and my ticket but that my sister would have to remain on the other aircraft. That was a huge inconvenience because we were planning to travel together. Luckily I called another time and got another attendant that was able to get all of us on the same airplane. I would recommend that information among attendants should be consistent. Also when purchasing tickets online there should be information about the size of wheelchairs that could fit the different airplanes that way one can choose a ticket based on wheelchair dimensions.
-When filling out the powered Mobility Aid information form, there were no instructions on how to fill out the “Stowage and prior damage” section. I left it blank until I got to the airport. Was not sure how to fill out the chart. Do I check mark or write something down?
-Also I did not find any information about how to take my wheelchair battery charger with me. Do I carry it on the plane or leave it with the wheelchair in the cargo?
Information like this should be easily accessible online.
Departing from Toronto:
Once we checked in and arrived at the gate, an Air Canada attendant named Hannah came up and asked if I was Florence. She kept great eye contact as she spoke to me. I was told the eagle lift was broken and I could either wait a little while for them to send another one or with the help of another employee they could lift me up manually into the Washington chair. I decided to go with the latter option as I did not want to wait any longer and I did not want the other passengers to wait for me.
Before take off, there was a problem with the plane’s electricity. So we were delayed for about one and a half hours. While I was waiting, I began to feel very uncomfortable as I cannot move to reposition myself so my bum was starting to hurt. I had to ask my support worker to try to lift me up and get my sister to put my jacket underneath. Also because my body is very stiff, my back was starting to hurt therefore I asked the attendant for pillows to put behind me. They informed me they did not have any but they gave me two small blankets.
During the flight I was very uncomfortable on the seat. I was starting to feel pressure sores underneath me. Many times during the flight I had to get more jackets put underneath me to relieve the pressure on my bum. The good thing is that I don’t weigh a lot so my support worker was able to lift me but if another individual was heavier they would suffer throughout the flight.
Once we arrived in Montreal, they wanted to transfer me to their manual wheelchair. Unfortunately, it did not suit me well, as it did not have a headrest and the foot rests were too far out so I was sliding down. Therefore, I had to use the Washington chair to get to my power wheelchair. In addition, the belts on the Washington chair were dysfunctional as they were not tightening. So that is a safety concern.
Once I finally arrived to my own power wheelchair, the entire cushion was soaking wet. They did not know why it was wet or where the water came from. Also because we were so delayed already I was tired and hungry and just wanted to go so I asked my support worker to put the two blankets underneath me on the cushion to prevent my pants from getting wet. I was very upset about this because if my wheelchair gets wet, the chair will not work. And my whole livelihood depends on my power wheelchair. I feel as if they did not make it a priority to protect my chair from damage.
Departing from Montreal:
Upon arriving to the airport we checked in with no difficulties however once we got to the gate I asked the Air Canada attendant if they can use their eagle lift to transport me onto my seat. The attendant had no idea what I was talking about. She had never heard of that before. But once I mentioned the “lift” it seemed it registered to her. She advised me that they did not have one on hand. Therefore I was transferred using the Washington chair. The individuals transferring me were very protective in not hurting me while transferring and I appreciated that. They were good at asking questions making sure I was okay. Also during the bumps they made sure to slow down so that I would not slide off of the chair. The transfer onto the plane went smoothly.
Luckily there were no delays and we were able to get to Toronto on time. However during the flight again I felt very uncomfortable on the seat. I could not tilt the chair or recline the backrest further and I started to feel pressure on my bum. Again my support worker had to pick me up and put additional clothing underneath so I had a cushion on my bum. The flight attendants were very nice and they always stopped by to make sure I was okay. I also appreciated the fact that one of them asked me how they could best help me in an emergency situation. I thought that was smart and helpful.
Once we landed in Toronto, I was successfully transferred onto the Washington chair and brought to the front of the gate where my wheelchair was positioned. At that moment the attendant told me that my wheelchair was not turning on. We tried everything to figure out what was wrong with the wheelchair and I was getting very frustrated as I depend on my wheelchair enormously. We decided to go to the airport and push the power wheelchair to see if we can charge it. Upon plugging it in it was not charging and I told them that my power wheelchair was fully charged, to begin with. We called the airport mechanic to see if he could fix it. At this point, it was around 7:30 p.m. and we were all exhausted after our trip. Not to mention I had wheel trans picking me up at 8:45 p.m. so we had to get this fixed as soon as possible. Although we were all getting annoyed as to why the wheelchair wasn’t turning on the staff were very supportive and kind and reassured me that they will fix the problem. After another 45 minutes of waiting and trying to sort out the problem, I found the wheelchair manual online and we went through the troubleshooting section. We noticed that there was a button at the very bottom of the wheelchair that someone had touched and switched Off. We switched it back on and thankfully the wheelchair turned on. I was upset that someone had turned off something that I had no clue of especially because I never told them to do so. This situation cost us a lot of time and stress.
At that moment I had around 30 minutes to get to the baggage and pick up my walker and suitcase before my transportation would arrive. We quickly went to the baggage area and came across another big problem. Because we were late in picking up our baggage, an employee decided to take my walker and other large items to their warehouse. It took another 40 minutes for the staff to figure out where my walker had gone. At this time I missed my ride. The employee advised us that they bring back the walker as soon as possible so we waited for another 40 minutes. By the time I finally got my walker and was ready to go home, it was around 10:00 p.m. The Air Canada employee told us they would give us limo vouchers to get home and we appreciated that. I would like to mention that although my trip had many difficulties and delays Air Canada’s employees really tried their best to help and kept reassuring us that everything would be okay. The customer service was wonderful but the technicalities and my overall experience was horrible. After my trip, I feel very discouraged to go on another trip. I did not enjoy my flight experience sitting on that seat and all the issues with my baggage and wheelchair. The level of stress that I experienced took away from all the good experiences on my trip. With all this being said I’m happy that I could help and hopefully make a positive change for persons with disability taking Air Canada flights.
