WEEKEND VIEW: Not Everyone Can Fly On AirAsia

STANISLAUS Anthony and his wife Janet were overjoyed last month when they were told that they were about to go on a surprise overseas trip soon.

The all-expense religious pilgrimage was a gift from one of their sons - 26-year old Joachim – who also decided to tag along with his parents.

It was a right thing to do because his dad and mum were persons with disabilities.

Stanislaus became disabled 12-years ago after he underwent a total hip replacement surgery on his left leg. Although he is able to walk, he can only do so for a very short distance. 

He tires very easily and the pain on his leg is often excruciating. When this happens, he resorts to using a wheelchair.

Janet, on the other hand, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. It is a serious disease in which a person's muscles gradually become weaker until one day walking is no longer possible.    

 

The 10-day journey took the elderly couple to a well-known healing centre in Kochi, Kerala in South India.

They were joined there by as many as 5000 other local and international participants – making it truly an experience of a lifetime for the family.

I caught up with Stanislaus, 60 and Janet, 53, soon after they returned home to Petaling Jaya in Selangor a couple of weeks ago.

However, instead of telling me about difficulties they encountered as disabled persons in a foreign land, they couldn’t stop telling me about all the many problems they had to overcome before even leaving the country.  

It was all related with booking their flight and getting in and out of the airport.

When Joachim booked the flight with AirAsia on the Internet, he recalled checking in an empty box on the form that mentioned “Disabled (passenger)”. 

Other than that he said no further questions were asked about one’s disability status.

So you can’t blame the eager retirees for thinking that all of their needs for accessibility concerns would be met once they arrived at the airport.

Nothing, however, could have been further from the truth.

When Stanislaus drove to the airport in Sepang he was shocked to find the only disabled car park next to the entrance of the building was occupied by a car belonging to a non disabled driver.

Stanislaus had no choice but to park his specially-adapted car next to the offending vehicle.

Then came his second upset.

Despite the numerous stickers on his car clearly indicating that he was a disabled driver, he was promptly served with a summons for his action.

The real offender, meanwhile, managed to get away scot-free.

However this was nothing compared to the nightmare that was yet to come for the disabled couple.

They were asked to climb up a flight of about 30 steps into the aircraft.

The ambulift – a specially designed contraption to lift wheelchairs into the aeroplane – was out of order, they were told.  

After the rest of the passengers had got into the plane, it was their turn.

They did so not only laboriously but also gingerly in case any one of them made a wrong move and slipped.

Stanislaus who had been suffering from frequent hip dislocation episodes over the past year recalled being absolutely terrified as he took each step into the plane. Janet was equally on tenterhooks.

“It wasn’t just us alone who was forced to struggle up the stairs,” Stanislaus pointed out. “We witnessed quite a few senior citizens as well who were negotiating their steps very carefully,” he added.        

Once inside, the couple had to walk almost halfway across the length of the plane to get to their seats.

He wondered why AirAsia after realising their handicapped status had not made things easier for the couple and changed their seats to one of the front rows instead. This only happened in India on their return trip.

Here are further points made by the couple:

• Accidents/Emergencies: The staff were not only ill-advised about how to help disabled travellers but when the couple were struggling up the aircrafts steps, there was only two small-sized women and one man to help in case of an emergency. The couple did not want to land in hotter soup than they were in already. 
• Express lane for disabled/elderly passengers: Although this was available in India, none existed in Sepang.
• Poor maintenance: The ambulift was still under repairs when the couple returned from India. The wheelchair provided by the airport in Sepang had wheels that wobbled dangerously with the possibility of suddenly coming off. Worst still, Stanislaus was charged RM15.00 for the use of the wheelchair (in India, it was free). No receipt was issued for the wheelchair rentals.

“All this clearly calls for an attitude change from AirAsia and the airport authorities if they really want all people to fly,” said Stanislaus. His wife promptly nodded.

The End

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