7 replies to this topic

[quinnygdn]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum and have worked in aviation providing ground services for a number of years. I have met many passengers who have been frustrated by the complex procedures employed by airlines (premium rate calls, INCAD/MEDIF forms etc) when booking airport/in-flight assistance?

I'm working with a group of people in UK to try to set up a system to specify passengers' needs via questions in ordinary English and we'll then do the conversion to Airline-speak.

Our aim to provide a free service (absolutely no premium rate phone calls!) to all airline passengers who wish to request assistance which will enable them to give specific details about their needs both on the ground and in the air. We can't guarantee that these needs can or will always be met but at least we might improve the odds in your favour.

We are trying to get some feedback from people who have real experience of trying (usually without success) to fit their needs into airline forms or explain to some call-centre operative exactly the assistance they require. We've done a first draft of the questions (please be aware it also covers Visual and Hearing impairments) and put them into a "simple-English" questionnaire type survey.

We would appreciate any views from passengers or if you would like to have a go at the questionnaire as it is now (and hopefully suggest improvements) please follow this link

http://www.kwiksurve...OMLMKK_b4ac7222

The more feedback we get, the greater our credibility when we take our proposals to the airlines so we would really value your help.

Please try to convert your negative experiences into suggestions for improvements - complaining sometimes makes us feel better but offering constructive suggestions is usually more rewarding.

Thanks in advance.

[ajl338]

I've just flown today and to be honest i never have any difficulty explaining my needs. The only slightly annoying thing is that with BA you go through their questionnare and when you tick use wheelchair it asks you to phone up and that means not 3am when i tend to do these things. But when i do phone them its a local rate number and i say manual wheelchair, needs isle seat my chair weights about 10kg, job done, takes about 30 seconds.

My issues are with the disabled assistance people on the ground in foreign places who have no concept of personal space. They arent told any info except to go and collect passenger x from flight y. So providing more info wouldnt help.

[quinnygdn]

ajl338, on 04 December 2011 - 11:22 PM, said:

I've just flown today and to be honest i never have any difficulty explaining my needs. The only slightly annoying thing is that with BA you go through their questionnare and when you tick use wheelchair it asks you to phone up and that means not 3am when i tend to do these things. But when i do phone them its a local rate number and i say manual wheelchair, needs isle seat my chair weights about 10kg, job done, takes about 30 seconds.

My issues are with the disabled assistance people on the ground in foreign places who have no concept of personal space. They arent told any info except to go and collect passenger x from flight y. So providing more info wouldnt help.

Really pleased to hear hat the system can work sometimes - thanks for taking the time to answer.

[HiltonP]

South African Airways (SAA) instituted a system like that about 15 years ago, in fact if I remember correctly if you were registered disabled flyer with them you received a magnetic card (like a credit card) which contained your unique number. Whenever you make a booking all you had to do was quote the number and your relevant information was available to them.

[Edinburgh Colin]

I mentioned that to Air France/KLM recently, what do they not have a section on their Frequent Flyer profile which holds the chair and persons physical needs details.
Of course they said it was a good idea but they didn't have it!

Would have thought it would be an easy thing to do after all they have your passport details, seat preference and what you want to eat!

[quinnygdn]

Edinburgh Colin, on 05 December 2011 - 09:04 AM, said:

I mentioned that to Air France/KLM recently, what do they not have a section on their Frequent Flyer profile which holds the chair and persons physical needs details.
Of course they said it was a good idea but they didn't have it!

Would have thought it would be an easy thing to do after all they have your passport details, seat preference and what you want to eat!

Thanks for your input - we are setting up an independant platform to do exactly that but we need to ensure the questions and system generally are easy to use hence our first stab at the questionnaire.

[ajl338]

i posted you some comments at the end of the form. As with all questionnares i find it hard to read and understand and tick the right boxes as more often that not i am not totally one answer but a document means i have to be exclusivly one. If i just phone up and its a empty box to fill then i can be specific about it.

I have never had an issue telling the airline i was disabled, they take the information but it does not get passed on. for example every time i get on a plane i have to state clearly that i will take my chair to the door and that i will not be moving unless it comes back to the door when i arrive, but this is nothing to do with the airline, more to do with the baggage handlers and ground crew

[dreamerr]

ajl338, on 06 December 2011 - 06:38 PM, said:

i posted you some comments at the end of the form. As with all questionnares i find it hard to read and understand and tick the right boxes as more often that not i am not totally one answer but a document means i have to be exclusivly one. If i just phone up and its a empty box to fill then i can be specific about it.

I have never had an issue telling the airline i was disabled, they take the information but it does not get passed on. for example every time i get on a plane i have to state clearly that i will take my chair to the door and that i will not be moving unless it comes back to the door when i arrive, but this is nothing to do with the airline, more to do with the baggage handlers and ground crew

Same issue here and I missed a lot of connections because of it. I know we have to be last off and that is fine with me since I don't want to be in the crowd but they need to get the chairs up faster. Also they need to respect the chair as it is a part of our body and very nerve racking to me when they take it away. I have cried at times because I find it scary that it may not come back and if it does it may not be in one piece. I have had my scooter demolished by an airline. I am in the USA so not sure if you are going to speak to all the airlines but I hope you do. As another person said they also crowd us which is not comfortable. I have also had them rush me to get out of my chair. I have to take off parts so they don't get broken and can be stored properly and I need time. I also travel with a service animal and it is a lot of juggling to get it all correct before I can get on the plane. A little understanding goes a long way. In all the flying I have done since my injury I have only had three fly attendants that were good. They were kind, respectful and understanding...bottom line is they were like old time flight attendants not what they have now. Remember in the old days they had to serve you and stuff now in the USA they throw a drink at you and are just present on the plane yet they are overwhelmed.