Airports told to stop failing disabled passengers
Airports must stop failing disabled passengers or they could face legal action, the UK regulator has warned.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it understood the recruitment challenges facing the industry but some recent incidents were “unacceptable”.
In some cases disabled passengers had been left waiting hours on planes for help to get off, it said.
The industry has been struggling with staff shortages in recent months.
Airlines and airports cut thousands of jobs during the pandemic, when Covid restrictions virtually shut down international travel.
BBC’s Frank Gardner left on empty plane as Heathrow have ‘no staff to remove wheelchair’
Heathrow Airport has been criticised for forcing disabled passengers to wait “long after” other passengers have left the aircraft for help to disembark…
‘I’M A TV PRODUCER’S DREAM’— ROSIE JONES ON THE TROUBLE WITH BEING THE POSER GIRL FOR DISABLED COMEDY
I’m writing this article from a lovely cafe in Poole, Dorset, and a sweet man has just asked for a photo with me. He’s a fan, he claims. I of course say yes, but when he swipes to open his phone, it reveals that the last thing he Googled was “disabled comedian”. He is mortified. I, naturally, find it funny. It is clear he saw me from across the cafe, thought, “Oh, I recognise her mug” and searched the two terms he knew about me: “disabled” and “comedian”. I am not bothered that he had to Google who I was, or that he reduced me to my ability and my job, but I am bothered that, according to the world’s number one search engine, I am the only disabled comedian.
This isn’t true. In the UK right now, there are so many great comedians with disabilities and neurodiversities: Adam Hills, Chris McCausland, Lost Voice Guy, Tim Renkow, Ashley Storrie and Fern Brady to name but a few. But it does seem that recently I have become somewhat of a poster girl for disability. I think there are a number of reasons for this.
First, I am not afraid to speak openly and frankly about my disability and how proud I am to be a member of the disabled community. And I regularly use my platform to make people aware of systemic ableism in society – or, lately, my personal, internalised ableism when it comes to using mobility aids.
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