Originally Posted by Fizzer

Her weight is a factor because I physically have to lift her from her chair to the aisle chair and then the aisle chair to the seat and vice versa. We can avoid that by getting help from ground staff boarding and disembarking but there is no help available in flight. Many quads are catherized but she isn't, so longer flights are more difficult.

It's also a factor when we get to our destination because I have to lift her on and off toilets, into shower chairs etc etc. As a consequence of my increasing age her weight is a factor. There are limits with regards to availability of mechanical lifts etc especially when travelling to countries less advanced than the US/ Canada/ UK etc. I actually find the UK to be the most facilitating, although with older historic properties and generally smaller spaces it can still be a pain no matter how willing the locals to help.

I wasn't aware about blocking off a whole row of seats. Not having to close the door would be some help but there is also not a lot of room even then. The only other concern is that our home airport YQR isn't served by widebodies at all. The biggest aircraft we get are Embraer 90s I think they are called. We always have to connect through 1 and sometimes 2 locations before we get that luxury.

Also the decision to stop travelling was hers not ours. I was willing to keep on doing it, although my wife was worried on my behalf. I'm not that old ( at least I think not) being in my mid 50s but I am certainly not getting younger.

My only point was that as she got bigger it was harder for us both. I don't actually know her weight because the only way we have done it in the past is for me to weigh myself, then lift her and step onto the scales with 2 of us. As our combined weight exceeds the maximum of the scales we have I can only speculate but it is at least 100 and more likely 120 lbs. Quite petite really but heavy enough to be too heavy for a 1 person lift all the time.