Court orders airlines to give second seat to disabled

by dambridge | May 14, 2008 at 02:24 pm | 1043 views | 13 comments

About time. I've heard too many stories of disabled people having a horrid time travelling by air. Aside from the obese, it seems to focus on extra seats for attendants; would be curious to learn more about whether or not this extends to support equipment.

The Federal Court of Appeal has turned down Canada's two major airlines, which challenged an order that they make exceptions to the one-person, one-fare policy in certain situations involving disabled travellers who need more than one seat.

The court ruling means the airlines will have 12 months to draft regulations to allow a for a second seat at no extra cost for disabled individuals when one is required for an attendant. It would also apply to obese individuals who need an extra seat.

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cmarie016

at 13:36 on May 15th, 2008

cmarie016 has contributed a photo to this story.

warpling

at 14:50 on May 15th, 2008

Often after purchasing tickets you can change your seat number, or even at the gate. Check out your plan on seatguru.com ahead of time though!

warpling has contributed a photo to this story.

Rob Peters

at 16:12 on May 15th, 2008

good stuff:

Cool, great idea.

davidjtate

at 17:02 on May 15th, 2008

I just took a picture on the plane because I was bored, is all...

davidjtate has contributed a photo to this story.

pwrplantgirl

at 18:05 on May 15th, 2008

I actually can't remember where this flight was going. I think it was D.C. to Denver.

pwrplantgirl has contributed a photo to this story.

Push My Button

at 19:48 on May 15th, 2008

French built passenger plane in the Carribean. Canon 5D 24-105mm

Push My Button has contributed a photo to this story.

catmachine

at 23:28 on May 15th, 2008

This was one of those occasions where the person sitting in front immediately pushes their seat back as far as it can go as soon as they sit down...

catmachine has contributed a photo to this story.

jkbandersson

at 00:25 on May 16th, 2008

Things didn¹t start out very well when the Arlanda flight was stranded de to
a ³problem with the lights². We finally got away 2 hours later and the rest
of the trip including connections was pretty smooth (except for the obvious
minimalistic leg space and the screaming 2 yr olds that always have to be
seated in the row behind).

jkbandersson has contributed a photo to this story.

yoni.holmes

at 01:26 on May 16th, 2008

Um, I don't know what this website is about, or why it needs my photo. But this was taken in Uzbekistan on an ancient Tuplov plane. Surprised and delighted that we hadn't all died when we finally made touchdown. It's an awfully nice thing not to die.

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nicolezukowski

at 02:55 on May 16th, 2008

Flight 732 Charlotte, NC
Airbus A333 London, United Kingdom

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lefeber

at 18:31 on May 16th, 2008

It's interesting that my photo was requested for use in an article about disabled people having a hard time flying, because I use a wheelchair. I was rolled all the way to the back of the plane on an isle chair and had to wait a really long time at my connecting airport before they could find an isle chair to get me back off the plane and into my personal chair. I took this photo after everyone else got off the plane and I was waiting by myself (no flight attendant either!). Airlines really don't make it easy, although some are definitely better than others.

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ugas1

at 20:56 on May 16th, 2008

On a Delta Flight out of Atlanta into Reagan Airport in Washington, D.C. As always, no room.

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Frog Style

at 20:33 on May 20th, 2008

Not too much to say, really. I always have window seats as I feel much more comfy than isle seats. I think that day I had a seat to myself, or there was noone in the middle... But I took this photo just to make myself dream of one day spending the money on first class, and get better food than peanuts/cookies :P

But that's pretty much it.

Frog Style has contributed a photo to this story.