The wheelchair scam at airports is real and it adversely impacts those who legitimately need wheelchairs, particularly those who have hidden disabilities. But perhaps a more innovative boarding process could eliminate those who are just looking to game the system to board early.
How Can Airline Wheelchair Abuse In Order To Pre-Board Be Reduced?
A viral tweet asserts that wheelchair abuse is rampant in San Juan, Puerto Rico, including a photo and description of a recent Southwest Airlines flight (remember, only single-aisle 737 jets) that included 25 wheelchairs lined up for pre-boarding with 30 “helpers” who also needed to pre-board.
“On his return flight, 15 used wheelchairs to board, only one to deboard.”
That’s quite a ratio, isn’t it?
A friend shares a not-uncommon sight from Puerto Rico:
55 “handicapped” during pre-boarding, including 25 wheel chairs
On his return flight, 15 used wheelchairs to board, only 1 to deboard pic.twitter.com/gHgIsnzsq7
— Bachman (@ElonBachman) February 19, 2023
These sorts of incidents are known as “Jetway Jesus” events, where the passengers are miraculously “healed” on the flight. In reality, this sort of scam goes on all over the world and is nothing new.
I saw it in El Salvador myself (and not in Los Angeles upon landing).
This is one of those problems in which there is no clear solution since so many injuries or conditions are not outwardly visible. I don’t think the answer is to start quizzing those who request wheelchairs in an attempt to verify the legitimacy of their request.
Thus, while the answer is not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” in order to eliminate abuse, perhaps the better solution would be board these customers last instead of first.
The incentive to scam is great because pre-boarding means overhead bin space, a superior seat selection (on Southwest Airlines), and generally a more relaxing boarding process than waiting in a slow-moving line on a hot or cold jet bridge with other passengers.
But imagine if those who needed extra time to board were boarded last, just like they are last to be collected once a flight lands? Logistical challenges like blocking overhead bin space or reserving an aisle seat in the last two rows on Southwest Airlines could be arranged…that’s not a dealbreaker.
Do you really think that scammers would go through with it if they had to board last and were seated in the back of the plane? I don’t.
CONCLUSION
When 15 wheelchairs are needed to board a plane and only one to exit the aircraft upon landing, we see a system that appears broken. But privacy concerns and the latent nature of some disabilities leave no easy solution for dealing with this problem. I would like to see airlines try boarding these passengers last and see if that cuts down on the abuse most of us, at one point in our travels, have observed.
(image: @ElonBachman / Twitter // H/T: View From The Wing)
Pretty much every flight to Florida from the Northeast as well. Especially WN. I have seen entire boarding areas filled with wheelchairs and it takes nearly the entire allotted boarding tome to get them all on.
Also, my solution is simple. Just like at a hospital where you are required to be wheeled out to the lobby in many instances, the airlines should require that if you get wheeled on, you get wheeled off, due to “liability issues.” Given that wheelchair passengers deplane last this will quickly end the entire Jetway Jesus problem.
Came to say the exact same thing: You get wheeled on, you get wheeled off. At that’s done last at both O and D. No exceptions. It’s not a privacy concern because everyone on the flight saw you in a wheelchair before the flight so it’s not some sort of devastating reveal that you need one at your destination. Besides, this isn’t a HIPAA issue anyway. There’s no expectation of privacy in a public space, airports included even if they’re “technically” private property.
I’d also add that this would cut down, too, on the potentiality for liability at the airline and at whatever contractor they’re using. Whether these people actually NEED a wheelchair becomes immaterial and this can be an excuse, tangentially punitive in nature for added benefit, as to why there’s no Jetway Jesus allowed at the destination.
That would only work if the arrival airport actually has wheelchairs at the arrival gate. I fly into Midway Airport in Chicago more than a few times a year. They have an available wheelchair probably 1 out of 10 trips. If you have a connection flight you may not have time to wait. If you need to use the restroom, you may not have time to wait. I tried asking the gate agent to call for a wheelchair so I would not miss my connection. By the time the wheelchair arrived they gave it to another passenger who was still on the plane. By the time I got one the poor kid pushing me had to run through 2 concourses because my flight was boarding. Fix that problem please.
This is typical from all flights to Latin America and India. I see this scam all the time. Huge advantages like first to board but the most important is to beat immigration lines. As soon as they get out of the Customs area they suddenly can walk.
Now, talking about scam, how about here in the US the parking spots for “disabled” people. LOL!!! I still have to see a real disabled person using those spots. How about someone that has that card and uses the spot on the fitness center to run at the treadmill? People shopping huge carts at Costco, all “disabled” pushing heavy carts. Now, that’s a scam.
Where I live there is a massive amount of handicap parking ( generally empty) combined with, say, employee of the month, online pickup (3 or 4 spots) and law enforcement. Pretty silly.
Clearly not a Seinfeld fan
There wasn’t online pick-up when Seinfeld was on.
I need the cart to hang on to Santastico for my knee buckles under me sometimes and I’d fall to the floor. I’m capable to push the cart.
The problem is the ADA act requires that passengers with wheelchairs be allowed to board first. Otherwise many airlines would’ve made new policies to help with boarding congestion. Many times gate agents have to wait for an assistant to show up an help board the wheelchairs before they can start boarding other passengers. This is precious time that they could’ve started the boarding process otherwise.
My understanding is that this issue falls under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), which does not explicitly require that these passengers board first.
This straight from the USDOT website:
Airlines must allow a passenger with a disability who self-identifies at the gate as needing additional time or assistance to board, stow accessibility equipment, or be seated, the opportunity to board before all other passengers.
Except, an airline with an open seating policy has been approved by DOT to accommodate extra-time passengers after an initial group of passengers have boarded, but early in the boarding process.
I use to work for a foreign carrier that had many preboards and we wanted to let them board last to see how many actually needed a wheelchair since many did not (they walked all the way to the gate, but suddenly needed a wheelchair when preboarding was announced), but we were warned that this would not be possible and could face a fine by DOT employees during a visit at our airport.
Despite that verbiage, I’m not sure if the ACAA actually mandates that, especially with the exception for Southwest (and other open-seating airlines).
On an airline like southwest with no assigned seats how would you handle them boarding last? It would be a nightmare trying to fit a handful of legitimately disabled people into a middle seats scattered throughout the cabin. There’s no easy solution without unintended consequences
Easy, really. Have all that need assistance gather in a separate area. Count the number. Block off that many seats and overhead bins at the back of the plane.
What can I say – jetway Jesus is real lol
When I fly on a flight to a sun destination, it is amazing the number of people who are cured of all walking disabilities during a flight! 🙂
Love the idea of boarding last. My father is mobility-limited, and I know he wouldn’t mind that at all. My parents often check bags instead of carry-on, anyway. He would just feel guilty about making people get up and move out of their seats to gain access to his along the window (where he normally sits so he doesn’t have to get up during the flight).
We have amazing miracles on FL bound flights. I primarly fly in and out of PBI or FLL and my returns are always time to praise the lord.
This is not about Florida. It is about the culture. Latin Americans do that. Go to Heathrow and look at the flight from India disembarking. There will be a line of wheel chairs.
16 wheelchairs on my flight to SJU on AA in December. I remember the number because I’ve never seen that many before. The people did look elderly though, perhaps an increase due to the holidays.
My go-to travel companion can handle boarding & deplaning but she is slow, which not a significant issue getting on/off a plane in our experience. Stairs and the long distances to and from gates are challenging for her as well. She uses wheelchair services for those reasons, and even she has noted the rise in “deplaning miracles” in recent years.
Part of the problem is the entire family (grand ma & pa, mom & dad, kids, cousins, emotional support animals, etc.) want to accompany the person in the wheel chair during the boarding process. I’ve seen some gate agents push back on this “entourage” technique, especially SW.
Charge $500 for wheelchair use, and if you use it at both ends, it’s refunded. If you fail to use it on deplaning, then you pay the fee. That will kill the abuse very very fast. And for folks who genuinely need it, not going to be an issue at all.
I use to work for a Middle Eastern carrier. You’d see this all the time on flights from the US to the point in the middle east. hordes of people lined up in wheelchairs for boarding, then very few used upon arrival in the destinatin.
My recommendation would be to have those that need a wheelchair to board sign a contract (and the seat that they are sitting in is tagged) that they will also wait to be last to deplane to wait for wheel chair. This jetway Jesus definitely needs a solution. Hold folks responsible.
My parents were on a cruise where the “special assistance” first to disembark was so bad, the captain switched to having that category go behind everyone else on the third day. My mom said it was amazing how many people all of a sudden didn’t not require assistance.
I dislike when anyone games the system for personal gain, it negatively impacts those who truly need assistance.
I don’t have all the answers either, but I am one that does need a wheelchair as does my husband so I’m speaking from that viewpoint.
While we are both in our seniors, he has a heart condition and cannot do stairs or walk far or quickly. If he had to walk to a gate, it would take him an hour or more because he would have to stop and rest constantly. I have had both knees and hips replaced, and a quad was nearly severed completely in physical therapy after a knee replacement, so I have limited ability on what I can do. I can walk again, just not too far. Stairs are well, not pretty, but if necessary I would get it done if there weren’t too many. I could get on and off the plane without any assistance from the gate, but that’s about my limit. Getting to baggage would be impossible. So yes we both use wheelchairs.
Not all disabilities are easily visible. People with heart conditions, someone who’s recently had surgery – there are myriad reasons why someone might need assistance. It’s very easy being a free moving individual who can openly criticize or penalize someone who isn’t, Ollie “oh let’s dump them all in the back everyone of the plane because maybe they’re scammers.” You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about! For many it’s difficult enough to get on or off the plane at the front!
I personally feel miserable having to have someone push me in a wheelchair. It’s humiliating but it is what it is. I know my hubby would give anything to be able to walk like a 40 year old!
There may be plenty of wheelchair scammers but in our travels, both domestically and internationally, I personally can say maybe just a handful have I wondered about. Most have very legitimate reasons for being stuck in a wheelchair.
But then we haven’t been on a flight to Florida or the Caribbean in quite a while.
And yes, before someone says or thinks we’re ‘once a year travelers’, we are not. We fly regularly – my hubby at least 3-4 times a month, often on Southwest, but it’s all for pleasure now. We “were” both million plus miles with Delta not too many years ago, mostly flying international business trips.
As long as I can get off the plane before them, they can get on the plane as early as they like.
The disrespect and pure hate of elderly people only shows the character of the writers.
At 75 I can assure you no one wants to be unable to traverse the new mile-long airport corridors on foot. Which of the people in that photo do you think can walk that far? And we can’t do stairs very well either. There are certain airports and terminals I know I have to ask for assistance and I know in coach I have to ask for an aisle seat with a fold-up arm to get in. On Southwest that means early boarding because Southwest doesn’t assign seats. Southwest needs to modify it’s boarding for handicapped-access seats.
The new contempt people have for the elderly is appalling.
Your outrage is so totally misplaced.
We have a confused boomer on our hands
Easy solution to fix this. If you want to be first on with the wheelchair then you’re last off with a wheelchair. This means they can’t rush to stand up and get off. Once they’re required to wait until the end we’ll see how many actually need a wheelchair. The US should also follow Europe where you can’t sit in the bulkhead or exit row if you’re injured or require a wheelchair. All the sudden a lot less people are fine!
I got to witness jetway Jesus on Saturday flying from Burbank to Oakland in southwest. 9 wheelchairs getting on the plane, none getting off. Hallelujah.
Disney had this problem years ago. I forgot how they solved it.
A few thoughts from a wheelchair user who is an attorney and frequently flies First Class, both domestic and international.
1. I’m always first on, last off (although this gets tricky/impossible when the connecting flights are all 30-45 minutes, which is common on flights from the West Coast to East Coast). I also get miffed when I pay for a First Class ticket, haven’t peed in hours (because wheelchair users can’t pee or poop on planes), and people in Economy take their sweet time getting off the plane. And before you say “diaper,” ileostomies have no sphincters, so you are really out of luck.
2. ACAA requires disabilities to pre-board before all else. DOT published this clarification many years ago.
3. Boarding wheelchairs last would actually make the boarding process longer. What you don’t know (because it’s clear you’ve never met someone who actually needs a custom wheelchair) is that preboarding without others on the place prevents injury and speeds transfers into seats. For many international first class flights, the “privacy walls” mean that 3-4 people have to lift a wheelchair user into those seats from odd angles. (And before you say “don’t sit in first class” know that to prevent DVTs and other calamities, many of us have to.) I have too many times had my legs crushed between plane seats by non-disabled people trying to either get around me or get their luggage around me. You’d also have to ask people to move seats/get out of seats and also move their luggage. When you travel with medical supplies (feeding tube, oxygen, central line/IV, medication) that cannot be checked in cargo, you do have a preferential right to both closet and overhead bin space.
4. There are a lot of people aged 65 and older who are flying, which is evident even in the photo of this article. The Boomers are flying in droves. Prior to switching to airlines with assigned seats/First Class, I flew multiple flights with Southwest with 5-10 wheelchairs. ALL people who boarded with wheelchairs did not disembark until those wheelchairs were in the jetway on the other end. (It is common for those wheelchairs to be waiting when the plane arrives at the gate because they have a shortage of low-paid wheelchair workers, and they have to free up those chairs for other people.
5. Many of us who pre-board actually do have the expensive tickets. For some reason, people think that wheelchair users and First Class ticket holders never overlap. We do and more often than you think.
6. I see many more wheelchair users during holiday and weekends versus, say, noon on Tuesday.