When I last flew back in October, I noticed the strangest phenomenon. I was waiting at the gate with my husband and daughter to board our flight to Orlando to visit the in-laws. We had arrived at the departure gate early, so we settled in with our various devices to wait for our boarding number to be called.
I took the opportunity to engage in some people watching while we waited; we were flying out of DC's Dulles International Airport, so trust me when I say the people watching is good. It was a bit surprising to note, however, that at least six reserved wheelchairs were already lined up near the gate agent's desk, ready to ferry those with mobility issues onto the flight ahead of regular boarding.
Weirdly, though, some of those wheelchairs were empty. I was quite befuzzled until I noticed one woman walking back from grabbing herself a snack from a nearby restaurant, then setting herself into one of the waiting wheelchairs. And another woman hopped out of her wheelchair and walked – just fine, I might add – over to a charging station many yards away to charge her phone. She stood there while it charged, then walked back to her wheelchair, ready to take advantage of priority boarding. There were a lot of raised eyebrows from fellow passengers who were also eager to board, stow their carry-ons, and get settled in their seats.
Once we landed in Orlando and were deplaning, I noticed a long line of volunteers with wheelchairs waiting along the jetway for the wheelchair-bound. Miraculously, some of those who boarded in wheelchairs were now able to breeze past the waiting wheelchairs and make haste to the baggage carousel. What a waste of time for the chair-pushers, who could've been helping passengers elsewhere who needed assistance.
Now, let's state the obvious: there's a good reason airports provide wheelchair assistance, and that's because plenty of travelers actually need it. When my now-92-year-old mother was still traveling, we entrusted her to the care of the wheelchair-pushers to get her on and off her flights – and we were plenty thankful for them.
Apparently, this phenomenon of needing a wheelchair at departure, but not at arrival, has a name: "Jetway Jesus" or "miracle flights." And it's a growing problem, with airlines reporting a 30 percent yearly increase in wheelchair assistance requests at larger airports around the world.
"The considerable increase in wheelchair assistance requests is a key issue for the aviation industry," the International Air Transport Agency (IATA), a trade group that represents the global airline industry, noted in a recent memo. "To understand the scale of the problem, IATA is looking at the issue through surveys and studies."
The IATA also noted in its memo that "the requests are more prevalent in specific geographies (e.g. flights to and from India, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Europe)." And there's this: "many assistance requests may come from passengers who do not have physical disabilities but do not feel confident navigating through a busy airport, or people who need directional assistance for whatever reason, including age."
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Travel industry blogger Gary Neff observed that there are early-boarding perks on many airlines, including seat selection and getting prime real estate in overhead bins. But, Neff remarked, "There are only so many contract workers assisting with wheelchairs at each airport, so frivolous requests hurt those with a real need."
Southwest Airlines shared in a statement why it's so easy to rig the system, stating, "Federal regulations preclude air carriers from asking for documentation regarding disabilities, and we adhere to all federal regulations governing air travel." The Wall Street Journal reported how a recent flight was delayed when 25 wheelchair passengers held up the boarding process, much to the frustration of fellow passengers.
My kids are older now, but I first noticed this cheating phenomenon years ago at Orlando theme parks like Disney and Universal, where people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters can skip the long lines and get priority boarding on the rides and attractions. No one has a problem when those who need this perk use it, but suddenly entire fleets of mobility scooters were being booked up in order to get in on the action, and the priority boarding lines became, well, bloated.
After the theme parks enacted rules to curb misuse of the special rules for visitors with physical disabilities, they were sued, so I honestly have no clue how we unravel this national nightmare, other than to say we had it all figured out back in grade school: no cuts, no butts, no coconuts.
Will travelers listen?
