Originally Posted by
IAMORGAN
I’m not sure this is legally right though. I don’t know. But I suppose what I’m advocating for / saying is basically they have to provide assistance to customers who live with disabilities. This may be a wheelchair and it may in practice fall to the airport operator to supply. But disabilities come in all shapes and sizes and in an ideal world I think there could be a more ‘empathetic’ approach. It wouldn’t kill the industry to do this or at least consider it!
Assistance…yes, absolutely, and quite rightly so. But an ask or expectation of a complimentary upgrade I would argue goes beyond assistance and in to the realm of subsidy. And I can’t think of any other walk of life - be it a hotel, attending a football match or concert - where accessibility requirements would entitle someone access to services or facilities for free that would otherwise be chargeable.
For instance, someone’s needs may make a penthouse suite more practical than a standard bedroom in a hotel. But a hotel owner is under no obligation to offer the former for the price of the latter. But they absolutely must ensure their hotel is accessible.
However, if there’s enough demand for it, maybe there’s something in offering a restricted “seat only” business class ticket which only includes the seat - no lounge access, priority check in or boarding, economy drinks and meals - to help those who need the additional space for medical reasons.