Introduction
Our son flew on numerous airlines, and to and from numerous airports, and in and out of numerous countries while using a walker (Mexico), then a push wheelchair (Israel), then a 450-pound power wheelchair (Costa Rica, Cayman Islands). Traveling with a powerchair was not fun. If a person is using one of these devices and wants to fly, he or she or a caregiver must contact the airline ahead of time to make arrangements. Don’t surprise the airline on the day of flying.
Preparing the Power Wheelchair
Walkers and push wheelchairs can be folded and stored on board or under the plane, so I won’t discuss these. The following describes how we prepared our son’s powerchair for getting on and off a plane.
We had to strip the wheelchair of as many removable or loose parts as possible (cushions, head rest, arm restraints, etc.). I could not remove either of the joystick controllers but I recommend to you that you remove yours if possible. We had to have sufficient room in our carry-on luggage for these parts. I had to render the chair “electrically” safe for travel by disconnecting the battery, which was very difficult to do. I had to tilt the backrest completely horizontal and back so it would fit under the plane. We had to instruct the ground crew how to push the powerchair while it was in neutral, then re-engage the motors so the wheelchair wouldn’t roll in the cargo area. We had to tape instructions and precautions about the power wheelchair to the wheelchair for the departure (and arrival) ground crews, hoping they could read English.
Ground staff at the arrival airport had to get the powerchair out of the plane’s cargo hold and bring it to us. This took a very long time.
I discovered that descending from sub-zero conditions at 35000 feet to the humidity and heat in Costa Rica made the chair dripping wet. (Not good for the electronics). One of the joystick knobs was missing, which wasn’t a big deal, and which the airline replaced. Reconnecting the battery was a nightmare because the connection was way inside the undercarriage of the chair. I ended up spending an hour or more lying on my back in the terminal trying to reach the connections and re-attach the battery. I had to reinstall all the parts and pieces of the powerchair and reconnect the battery so our son could get back into it.
The last trip our son took with his power chair was with his girlfriend and another couple to the Cayman Islands for a week. When they arrived, they discovered that the power chair’s right arm had been forced downwards as if an elephant had sat on the arm. No one there (including his girlfriend and the other couple) knew how to readjust it, but some enterprising hotel individual jammed a piece of wood under the arm to level it until our son returned to the US. I had to use a very large Allen wrench to loosen the arm’s set screw, reposition it, then tighten it. A tremendous weight must have pushed that arm downwards. Lesson: A powerchair user should travel with a complete set of tools.
Our son wrote about this in his book, “Never Say Invisible” (https://www.neversayinvisible.com/book/)
The Disabled Flyer
Depending on the airport and airline, a disabled passenger will either go from the departure waiting area directly into the plane, or will have to be transported in a special vehicle from the terminal across the tarmac, then into the plane.
Direct Walkway from the Departure Lobby to the Plane
If the disabled person cannot walk unassisted, then the airline staff will have to transfer the person from his or her own wheelchair to an “aisle chair”. An aisle chair is a very narrow wheelchair with tiny wheels that is equipped with many straps and other medieval restraints so the staff can secure the person and roll him or her backwards onto the plane and through the aisles to the seat.
The aisle chair was uncomfortable, so our son couldn’t sit in it for several hours. The ground crew arrived just before boarding and transferred him out of his powerchair and into the dreaded aisle chair while all the passengers were glaring and staring at him.
Here are two videos about wheelchair users and flying. Each disabled person’s case is different, obviously.
The first video doesn’t show anything past getting the wheelchair user into the aisle chair. The two guys also don’t look too sure of what they’re doing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CulExSUPsfw
The second video is better, but the wheelchair user can walk, talk, and eat. The video doesn’t show the ordeal I had to go through to prepare our chair for flying, nor how they put a non-walking person into a seat, nor how to get to the restroom on the plane, nor eat if you can’t take food or meds by mouth, plus other issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8BHbFsuNKQ
As our son wrote in his book, there will be stares and mutterings from the other passengers in the lobby because you will board first while you are holding them up, so they will be delayed. Too bad. Once the disabled person has been wheeled backwards onto the plane and has been placed adjacent to the assigned seat (facing forward) and all the straps are opened, it usually will require 3 or 4 strong crew members or ground crew to lift the person out of the aisle chair and plop the person into the assigned seat. Try to get an aisle seat for all flights!!! Fly first class if you can. Fortunately, our son did not yet have head drop, so we did not need any equipment to deal with that. At the arrival airport, you will get off last.
No Direct Walkway from the Departure Lobby to the Plane
After transferring out son from his power wheelchair to an aisle chair, the ground crew at one airport took him completely out of the terminal and placed him in a special ground transport vehicle that could elevate its passenger compartment to the height of the plane. The vehicle drove him (and us) to the side of the plane, elevated, then the ground crew members wheeled him in the aisle chair into the plane.
The Plane
Using the toilet
Once the disabled person is on the plane, getting to the toilet might be a nightmare, depending on the disability. For our flight to Israel on EL AL in 2018, our son was still able to walk a little bit with a walker. (We had brought his walker on board so he could get to the bathroom). The walker just barely fit through the aisles, so I hovered over him from behind to help him navigate and to protect him from falling, and from passengers’ protruding feet and knapsacks. We discovered that the walker did not fit through the bathroom doors, nor could I fit in the bathroom with him to help him. I had to leave the bathroom door open and maneuver him to the toilet while I stood behind him in the hallway with my arms around him (mind you the plane was shaking and swaying). I held him up while he faced the toilet. I moved the walker out of the way. While the rest of the crew left to offer some privacy (a joke), I had to drop his pants and aim him with one hand while he urinated, then lift his pants and zip him up. I got the walker back in place, then hovered over him on his trip back to his assigned seat.
Eating on the plane
On our EL AL flight to Israel in 2018, our son was still able to eat small bites of food, but he could not use his hands. He was very pleased when a gorgeous EL AL stewardess actually cut up his food and fed him.
Eating on the two flights to Costa Rica and back was not possible because he had a feeding tube by then, so he just toughed it out until we got there.
Strange medical supplies and equipment
In 2019, we flew to Costa Rica twice because our son wanted to go to a stem cell clinic there. By then his ALS had progressed and he was using a power wheelchair. I had a lot of explaining for the Costa Rican airport inspectors, because they were suspicious of our equipment:
Q: What were all those cartons of food? A: because he had a feeding tube.
Q: What were all those tools? A: to help him with his enteral feeding.
Q: What were all those funny mechanical and electrical devices? A: to help him breath; to suck mucus out of his lungs; to blend his food and pump it into his feeding tube.
Q: Why are you carrying a lot of metal objects, including a three-foot metal pole in your suitcase? A: they’re part of the equipment needed to feed our son.
On one outgoing flight from the US, our son was selected for a pat down, including swabs, and a metal detecting wand while being immobile in a wheel chair. Nice.
Supplemental oxygen on commercial airlines
Note: The following article doesn’t say what to do if you have to bring an oxygen cylinder or oxygen generator onto the plane.
Here is some information about oxygen and flying, quoted from:
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/supplemental-oxygen-on-commercial-airlines-beyond-the-basics/print
“As air travel has become more common, travel opportunities have increased for people with serious medical conditions. This includes passengers with lung disease who require supplemental oxygen during air travel. Commercial air carriers’ policies regarding in-flight oxygen vary considerably, potentially leading to a great deal of confusion for travelers.
This topic review provides an overview of the potential effects of air travel; measures to determine who may require in-flight oxygen; and steps to help patients plan ahead so that traveling with oxygen can be achieved safely, comfortably, and relatively easily.
Airplane travel exposes people to decreased air pressure and lower than normal oxygen levels. For most people, these changes are not noticeable. However, small atmospheric changes can have significant and potentially severe effects for patients with certain underlying lung conditions.
Cabin pressure — Air pressure drops as altitude increases. Thus, as an airplane ascends, the air pressure inside the plane is reduced. Inside commercial airplanes, pressurization of the cabin limits the fall of pressure. This allows the airplane to cruise at altitudes up to 40,000 feet without exposing travelers to dangerously low levels of air pressure and oxygen.
Cabin pressurization levels vary by the type of airplane. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that the cabin pressure on commercial airplanes be maintained at levels equivalent to the atmospheric pressure below 8,000 feet. The FAA allows for brief drops in air pressure for safety purposes only, such as to avoid bad weather conditions. The minimum air pressure to which travelers could be exposed for short periods is equal to that encountered 10,000 feet above sea level.”
Legislation for airline travel
https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/disabilitybillofrights
This Bill of Rights describes the fundamental rights of air travelers with disabilities under the Air Carrier Access Act and its implementing regulation, 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 382.
Click this link to download the latest version of the Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights
- The Right to Be Treated with Dignity and Respect.
- The Right to Receive Information About Services and Aircraft Capabilities and Limitations.
- The Right to Receive Information in an Accessible Format.
- The Right to Accessible Airport Facilities.
- The Right to Assistance at Airports.
- The Right to Assistance on the Aircraft.
- The Right to Travel with an Assistive Device or Service Animal.
- The Right to Receive Seating Accommodations.
- The Right to Accessible Aircraft Features.
- The Right to Resolution of a Disability-Related Issue.
Some recent news about flying while disabled
- “DOT Issues Landmark $50 Million Penalty Against American Airlines for Its Treatment of Passengers with Disabilities” (October 23, 2024) Note that this occurred during a Democratic president’s term in office.
Link: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/dot-issues-landmark-50-million-penalty-against-american-airlines-its-treatment - “Airlines and Trump Administration Backpedal on Protections for Travelers With Wheelchairs” (June 20, 2025) Note that this occurred during a Republican president’s term in office.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/travel/wheelchair-flights-delta-united-american.html
A landmark rule to expand the rights of disabled air travelers has been hamstrung by a lawsuit from major airlines and delayed enforcement by the Transportation Department.
