Originally Posted by
eigenvector
It is unquestionably the responsibility of the carrier and airport to provide wheelchair assistance to those who need it. However, it isn't something that can be provided instantly all of the time. If it isn't available in a timely fashion, then the carrier will have to accommodate the passenger on a later flight.
Leaving aside for a moment whose fault it was that a wheelchair was not available (YVR, AC or pax), if for whatever reason assistance is not available at the moment a disabled person arrives to the airport and that person and their caretaker, having full knowledge of their own capabilities, elects to walk, I think they have to take some responsibility as well for the outcome.
Telling the AC agent "I cannot walk, I will wait here until a wheelchair is available, put me on a later flight if you have to" would have avoided this incident.
AC or YVR may be responsible for not having enough wheelchairs and that is a problem they need to address. But they didn't shove the woman onto the floor.
edited to add:
Just because companies have a legal obligation to accommodate those with disabilities doesn't change the fact that it's irresponsible to send a frail elderly person on a cross-country trip by themselves. Being old is more than just a single disability and can include a host of mental and physical issues that wheelchair service doesn't even come close to addressing. It's not the same as accommodating - for example - a blind person who is otherwise fully capable of managing their own affairs. If someone is injured after only 2-3 minutes under their own care, there is a problem. I say this with the experience of having elderly relatives and accompanying them on international travel. People have to take some responsibility and be firm with elderly relatives who want to continue to do stuff alone that they really are not able to handle. Only you & your family know your true capabilities.
She did one leg of that trip without incident. If the service had been provided here, she wouldn't have fallen on her face.
The regulations are there to ensure that these situations do not arise. I'm not unsympathetic to your argument, but the responsibilities are very clearly outlined here. If they had said a personal attendant travel must accompany, then that would have been the rule. For better or worse, it's not.
Look, we live in a society where packing off elder relatives into splendid isolation is acceptable. Trying to make family members assume responsibility for elderly relatives is not always economically or politically viable.
That said, can any of us really see something like this happen in SIN or DEL? I cant help but feel that someone in that airport could have addressed this on the spot with a little effort, but chose not to because no effort is easier than a little effort.