Originally Posted by roberto99
Her options for actually boarding the plane are:
- Walk all of the way.
- Walk from the wheelchair at the plane's door to her seat (possibly with crutches).
- Be boarded with an "aisle-chair" (the very narrow wheelchair that can be slid down the plane's aisle with the help of the airport's staff and yours, too.
Well said. If she is comfortable with the walker and does get to preboard well in advance - then walking down the aisle grabbing on to seat backs can be almost as good. I do that with a folding cane and works - at least for me - better than trying to use crutches in the restricted space.
The aisle chair is the safest - although staff expertise can be erratic in my limited experience with that approach.
The airline will often try to seat you in a favorable position - often the forward bulhead. However, if I'm on a long coach flight it often works out best to make the long hike back to a seat near the lavs once at preboard time without worries about other pax. Or, 757s with a lav up front.
The advice about a wheelchair for the journey to the gate is right on - they're geared up to handle those requests and not always anything less than that.
Bon voyage...