Innovative Solutions to Facilitate Accessibility for Airport Travelers with Disabilities (2020) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 111-124
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From page 111... ...
111 7.1 Customer Experience The current customer experience with boarding and disembarking is characterized by inconsistent policies and procedures, design obstacles, and a general lack of knowledge in how to best assist travelers with disabilities, especially those who are nonambulatory. Based on complaints to airlines and feedback from the disability community and aviation industry alike, more focus is required on boarding and disembarking procedures and the safe stowage and handling of assistive devices.
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From page 112... ...
112 Innovative Solutions to Facilitate Accessibility for Airport Travelers with Disabilities placed on the device while boarding. The purpose of the tag is to help explain how to stow the assistive device, describe key features such as the weight and location of important operational parts, identify which parts have been taken into the cabin, and explain how to reassemble the device before repatriation.
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From page 113... ...
Boarding–Disembarking and Stowing–Retrieving Assistive Devices 113 only possible on aircraft that do not have a forward galley closet, such as those in the Southwest Airlines fleet. 7.4 Means of Access/Boarding Equipment 7.4.1 Eagle Lift A product from Australia, the Eagle Lift -- along with a second model, Eagle 2 -- is an innovative device manufactured by Haycomp PTY, Ltd., a company specializing in lifting solutions for wheelchair users who are unable to self-transfer (Figure 7-1)
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114 Innovative Solutions to Facilitate Accessibility for Airport Travelers with Disabilities A gait belt is commonly used in hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, and assisted living centers. The belt goes around a person's waist and is held by an assistant standing behind to help keep the person upright.
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From page 115... ...
Boarding–Disembarking and Stowing–Retrieving Assistive Devices 115 7.5 Innovations in Boarding and Disembarking 7.5.1 Boarding Bridges Boarding bridges have revolutionized the boarding and deplaning process for all travelers. But there are still major issues affecting their accessibility, such as the lack of handrails that span the entire boarding bridge, steep transitional slopes, and low lighting.
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116 Innovative Solutions to Facilitate Accessibility for Airport Travelers with Disabilities bridges, where uneven floors result from extending and retracting the bridge. There are no steep transition areas and little to no slope, which are major improvements.
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Boarding–Disembarking and Stowing–Retrieving Assistive Devices 117 Keith Consolidated Industries (KCI) was one of the first companies to embrace the fact that people tend to prefer ramps to stairs, and the company offers custom manufacturing to enable access.
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From page 118... ...
118 Innovative Solutions to Facilitate Accessibility for Airport Travelers with Disabilities 7.5.3 High-Lift Trucks Many foreign airports have a specialized piece of equipment -- commonly referred to as a "high-lift truck" or "ambulift" -- that allows a person using a wheelchair to skip the boarding bridge altogether. The truck rises to the level of the aircraft, enabling the passenger to boards or disembark via the airplane galley.
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From page 119... ...
Figure 7-8. Traveler being loaded into Bulmor Sidebull 2.0 (Source: Bulmor)
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From page 120... ...
120 Innovative Solutions to Facilitate Accessibility for Airport Travelers with Disabilities Mallaghan Engineering makes four versions of its passenger aid units, with the size dependent on payload requirements (Figure 7-11)
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From page 121... ...
Boarding–Disembarking and Stowing–Retrieving Assistive Devices 121 7.6 Traveling with an Assistive Device The Air Carrier Access Act permits airlines to require travelers with powered mobility devices to check in at the airport at least one hour prior to other passengers (Part 382.127 and 382.25)
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From page 122... ...
122 Innovative Solutions to Facilitate Accessibility for Airport Travelers with Disabilities ground handlers can quickly review the information before stowage. This system also facilitates communication with ground crew at the destination airport.
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From page 123... ...
Boarding–Disembarking and Stowing–Retrieving Assistive Devices 123 the terminal or lounge area to the tarmac to prepare for loading, including filling out any tags and removing items that should be stowed in the aircraft cabin for safekeeping. Wheelchairs are often more secure in large, wide-body planes, since they are stowed in palletized containers, often with tie-downs to keep the devices in place.
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From page 124... ...
Figure 7-15. Manual wheelchair lift (Source: Keith Consolidated Industries)
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