Seniors on wheels fly the friendly skies

Aging Jewishly — What our traditions teach us about growing old.

By Rabbi Barbara Aiello

Boom! Something hit the floor with a loud crash, waking Linda from her snooze. Linda raced to the bedroom closet, hoping that her husband, Dave, was OK. “No worries,” Dave shouted. “Just the suitcase that fell from the top shelf. I’m thinking about packing for our next trip.”

Linda and Dave had plans to travel to Chicago for their granddaughter’s bat mitzvah, a trip Linda believed they’d have to decline because of Dave’s orthopedic surgery several months ago. Linda shook her head. “Dave, we discussed this. A complicated trip with two connecting flights is out of the question right now.”

Dave wasn’t buying it. “Listen Linda, we’ll get to the airport and commandeer one of those wheelchairs. They’ve got dozens of them. You’ll give me a push, and we’ll be all set.”

Dave is half-right. Indeed, airports now have many wheelchairs, often different types for different mobility needs, but unlike decades earlier when a lone wheelchair could be used without reservation, government regulations and airport policies have joined forces to organize and execute a smooth experience for disabled travelers.

Thanks to the Air Carrier Access Act (ACCA), a federal law enacted by Congress in 1986, commercial airlines are prohibited from discriminating against passengers with disabilities. This means that travelers like Dave, along with nearly 250,000 airline passengers who need wheelchair service each year, can access procedures that make traveling by wheelchair less difficult and more pleasant.

I know this from personal experience. I’ve recovered from successful surgery, but the result is that I walk slowly and sometimes I’m unsteady on my feet. On a recent trip from Sarasota, Florida to my home in south Italy, I navigated four airports, three airlines, three countries and two continents, all by wheelchair and all successfully.

Preparation is the key. For me the requirements for Delta, KLM and ITA (formerly Al Italia) were the same. Online sites state that in order to request special assistance such as a wheelchair, passengers are encouraged to call the airport directly at least 48 hours before flight time.

Thanks to the ACCA regulation, airports are required to have staff dedicated to providing travel assistance to seniors. They will mark your itinerary “special assistance requested,” allowing the airline to prepare for your arrival.

Airlines request that special needs passengers arrive at the airport well in advance of their flight so that an assistant trained in wheelchair operation can be assigned to the traveler. This person will remain with the traveler from check-in through boarding.

In Sarasota, I was assigned a wonderful assistant. Barry wheeled me through security with ease and offered to bring me to the bathroom door. In Atlanta, a charming young woman, Coco, asked if I was hungry and offered to wheel me to the deli choices. I waited while Coco kindly made my purchase.

When weather canceled my flight to Rome, Coco knew just where to take me to rebook another flight. Which I did. To Amsterdam! Although Holland was not on my original itinerary, Coco explained the situation to a most helpful Delta customer service representative who amended my itinerary so that I would have a wheelchair waiting for me when I arrived first in Amsterdam and then in Rome. There, I was escorted by Alessia who undauntedly pushed me from Rome’s Terminal E, through terminals D, C and B, all the way to Terminal A and my last flight home.

In addition to the in-person services offered by individual airlines, websites for each carrier suggest travel tips for wheelchair users, including information on special TSA screening procedures for seniors older than 75 as well as accommodations for those who wear special medical devices.

Recommendations for seat selection include choosing an aisle seat, which makes for easier access for both the disabled traveler and those seated beside them or in the same row. Choosing a seat near the bathroom or near the front of the plane can make navigating the airplane aisle as hassle-free as possible.

Before I experienced airline wheelchair travel, I was more like Dave than I’d like to admit. And like Dave, I hadn’t given careful thought to my mobility needs.

In the Torah portion, Vayikrah, we read, “You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind.” We interpret this prohibition to mean that we should not make life more difficult for those who are already challenged.

Thanks to governmental efforts like the Air Carrier Access Act, with planning and forethought, Dave can travel to the Chicago bat mitzvah and the rest of us wheelchair users can anticipate a successful experience “flying the friendly skies!’

For 10 years Rabbi Barbara Aiello served the Aviva Campus for Senior Life (Sarasota, Florida) as resident rabbi. Now, she is rabbi of Italy’s first Reconstructionist synagogue. Her most popular columns are now published in her new book, “Aging Jewishly,” available on Amazon books. Contact her at Rabbi@ RabbiBarbara.com