Air Canada fined $97,500 after wheelchair user was forced to drag himself off flight
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has fined Air Canada $97,500 for multiple violations of the country’s regulations on accessible transportation for people with disabilities.
“On August 30, 2023, Air Canada failed to assist a wheelchair user to disembark its aircraft. The passenger, who has spastic cerebral palsy and is unable to move his legs, was forced to disembark the aircraft on his own,” the CTA said in a release on Thursday. “In addition, while the passenger was waiting in the terminal, Air Canada failed to ensure that their personnel periodically inquired about his needs.”
The agency has given the carrier 30 days to request a review before the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada.
“We fully appreciate the importance of making sure our customers with disabilities travel without encountering barriers and receive consistently reliable service,” an Air Canada spokesperson told Daily Hive over email.
“In this case, which arose because of a failure by the third party we used in Las Vegas to assist customers with disabilities, we have hired a new provider who will start early in the new year.”
What happened on August 30
Daily Hive spoke to Air Canada flyer Rodney Hodgins in November.
Hodgins and his wife, Deanna, travelled from Vancouver to Las Vegas on an Air Canada flight on August 30. The BC couple was taking a trip to celebrate their first anniversary.
Hodgins uses a motorized wheelchair because he has spastic cerebral palsy and cannot walk or bend at the waist.
Deanna and Rodney Hodgins in Las Vegas. (Supplied)
Deanna told Daily Hive that Rodney stays in his wheelchair until he gets to the aircraft’s door. He’s then transferred into a narrow chair called the Washington chair.
“Wheelchairs do not fit down the isles of the planes, so Washington chairs are used. Washington chairs are owned by the airlines,” she stated.
When disembarking the plane on this particular flight, Rodney was not provided accommodations to help him exit the flight. He was left with no choice but to drag himself out of his seat to the front of the plane with assistance from Deanna.
She said Rodney remains “in shock that in 2023, he would even be asked to do this.”
“Physically, he’s good now, although reliving this has presented some new health scares. I think this will be with him emotionally for the rest of his life,” she said.
“He just keeps saying, ‘They all just looked at me while I struggled. They did this to me because money [is] more important.’ The flight attendants don’t get paid while the wheels are on the ground, and Air Canada doesn’t want delayed flights, so they forced us off, all for a dollar.”
In a statement emailed to Daily Hive in November, Air Canada said it had contacted Hodgins and offered him compensation “for his upsetting travel experience.”
Deanna told Daily Hive that the airline sent the couple a letter admitting they “broke the law by violating the Canadian Disabilities Act.” Air Canada also offered Deanna and Rodney $1,000 each in compensation.
But Deanna says Air Canada’s response doesn’t do enough to acknowledge the accessibility needs of its passengers.
“That doesn’t address the issue of persons with physical disabilities being abused by the airline. We want to see policy change and massive penalties for violating human rights and the disability act,” she said.
With files from Daily Hive’s Simran Singh
Follow Channels and Categories