Flying with a wheelchair - not in Second Life
So, I’m back from Melbourne for wordcamp I’ll write more about wordcamp later but for now I wanted get these thoughts out about travel.
The flight was good. The staff at Qantas are becoming adept at using the lifting devices (Eagle lifter) that transfer you from wheelchair to plane seat and back and so while it’s a bit to go through, if you just relax, make jokes and give some calm instruction, all goes fairly smooth for such an odd circumstance.
Of course the flight there was chockers [that's full for international readers] and ended up having a woman sitting in the middle seat next to me. She had to climb over me in her best skirt, and while it wasn’t the best situation, she was very gracefull - both in the execution of the manuevre and in her attitude - and we spoke quite a bit through the flight. She even helped me with a drink, seeing me and my carer friend and I had found our selves separated by the shuffle of boarding.
Which brings me to a thought I had while waiting and watching everybody shuffle on the plane. Why don’t they board passengers according to the position of their seats ACROSS the plane? Like all window seat passengers (in my 737 case, seats A and F) first, then centre seats, then those with aisle seats last? This would speed up boarding. Of course it wouldn’t help my situation - they always board wheelchair users first and alight last.
The flight back was much the same although I was seated in row 4, which meant more leg room and easier transfers and people climbing over me.
All in all I think things are generally getting better. When you get staff that are obviously trained in using the lifting devices it works well. Certainly getting straight from wheelchair to lift to seat is much better than those dinky chairs they used to transfer you onto and off again.
Word to the wise, know how much your chair weighs. You’ll need to know it before you travel anyways as you have to give dimensions and weight when booking. But you’ll also find everyone you come across wants to know the weight. Look it up from the manufacturers website for the model of your chair and commit it to memory. When asked say the weight <whatever> kgs directly and confidently and you’ll be right.
Dave
> Why don’t they board passengers according to the position of their seats ACROSS the plane?
I think they are starting to do this in the U.S. There, instead of seating by row number, they seat by ‘zone’ - zone 1, zone 2, etc. and each person has their zone number on their boarding pass. So people with window seats get lower zone numbers (lower zone numbers board first).
Of course, it’s not just arranged according to comfort. Since there’s always too little baggage space in the cabin, it is an advantage t board early and stash your carry-on baggage first. So frequent flyers get low zone numbers as well.
Comment by Stephen Downes — November 22, 2007 @ 9:20 pm