wrp96

Re: just renting one from a major city or shipping the wheelchair

Frequently if a person is using a custom power wheelchair, they can't just rent another one as it's made specifically for their needs, whether it be supporting certain body parts, movement etc. You might be able to get a basic power chair in some larger cities, but usually all that's going to be available for rental is a manual wheelchair. In many cases the custom wheelchair is part of the reason that person is still able to be independent, rather than rely on someone else to travel with them. Shipping the wheelchair causes the same issue.

This is not the same as if your baggage goes lost or missing. While you may be quite uncomfortable and inconvenienced, you aren't unable to move just because you don't have your Samsonite.

So yes it is that important that UA (and all airlines) handle these correctly as required by the ACAA.

kb9522

If something is so important, the onus should be on the person who requires it to ensure it is packed extremely carefully so as to avoid damage. What's a few thousand for a proper transit case and fees when you've spent $42k on a chair?

I agree that it is important that the airline handle items correctly and appropriately, but I'm betting the legal standard for that is much lower than a passenger's expectation. Of course I'm simply speculating though.

notquiteaff

Do we know

(a) how/if the wheelchair was packed?
(b) what the requirements are? I think I asked that earlier; this guy isn't the first and only wheelchair-bound passenger on United, so they must have rules for this. I have seen more than one wheelchair-bound passenger "motor" to the gate in an electric wheelchair. I assume they hand over the chair at the gate/airplane door and there would be no opportunity for them to actually package it into a storage container at that time.

And United (and probably they aren't unique) is so well known for doing just that...

simpleflyer

Please note, we do our best, but damage does sometimes occur, particularly with heavier powered wheelchairs.

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...heelchair.aspx

This was the best article I could find on the subject of packing power wheelchairs for travel:

http://barrierfreetravel.net/sample.php

It emphasizes either removing joysticks if possible, or using a cup and packing tape to protect it. All protruding items like mirrors should be removed.

“I discovered that the very sturdy cardboard tubes that carpets are rolled on makes a great controller protective device. I scrounged an empty tube (some places call them cores) from the carpet store, then used a hacksaw to cut off the right length to slide over my controller. It works great.”

The article cites a woman who even went as far as to build her own transport crate.

“I was tired of the airlines damaging my son’s wheelchair, so I had a crate building company build a protective container for transport,” she says.

There is even a company that sells protective containers for wheelchair air transport. The Haseltine Flyers are priced from $368 to $689, depending on the model.

kb9522

a) Obviously it was not packed well enough.
b) Irrelevant since the point is he should have planned for the worst and packaged it accordingly given the apparent value (monetary and otherwise).


Do you always stop reading mid sentence?

Loren Pechtel

1) How could they pack it? People that need that sort of equipment aren't physically capable of packing it and they're going to go and from the airport in that chair anyway, when would it be packed?

2) Packing it in a crate would mean it's wheels wouldn't be available to move it around--making the problem of stowing it much worse.

3) A crate wouldn't work any better for getting tied down properly, nor against the cases of stuff being dropped.

fastair

This is clearly NOT my forte area, but I'm curious as to who sells a $42k wheelchair? The most expensive I could find was $13k https://www.karmanhealthcare.com/product/xo-505/

Obviously customizing them, as is likely necessary for many users, would increase the price, but can anyone find online anything that remotely costs $42k.

I realize this is slightly off topic, but I'm curious as to what comes with a wheelchair that rivals some lower priced luxury cars. Any links would be interesting to look at

coloneltigh

1. There are many companies that specialize in crating items for shipment. These companies often build custom crates for items for which the original shipping materials are not available. While there is a cost, it is not as expensive as you may think.

2. A crate would be the same as loading in a baggage container and would be loaded with the same equipment used to load baggage containers. Considering that the item is quite heavy, this is the way to go instead of having baggage handlers load it by hand.

3. Crates have (or can be built) with tie downs.

I travel with an assistive device (not a wheelchair) that I take numerous safeguards. Handing it over to checked baggage without a protective case is just looking for trouble.

DENviaLAX

Speaking from experience, many of these chairs (particularly those in the 300+ lb range) don't fit easily through the cargo doors, especially on narrowbodies. There is equiptment available to lift them onto the beltloader, but from there getting them into the hold is still a hassle. It's not easy to lay a 500 lb chair on its side and slide it into the hold of a 737. Getting them through the door and sliding it into the pit, given the limited space and amount of muscle required to move it, is a strenuous and time consuming task.

Additionally, in many cases the passenger shows up late and therefore it takes even more time for the CS agent to walk it to the elevator, ramp to grab a wheelchair cart and go over to load it up, drive back to the gate, and then go through the process of loading it into the plane. You're talking 10+ minutes just for that, if everything goes well. That amount of time, on top of everything else that needs to be done, makes for a very tough situation.

Unless it's a widebody and can be loaded with a K loader and be stood up and strapped down properly with plenty of space, I think anyone checking a wheelchair like that is taking a major risk. Smaller planes really just arent designed to transport something of that size, shape, and fragility in a proper manner.

simpleflyer

Re using it to go to and from the airport: it would have to be a two stage process. The primary vehicle or chair is packed, while a second, lighter, simpler, and much less expensive chair solely for the purpose of accomodating one while one's main chair is being shipped, i.e. a transfer chair, would also have to be taken. This could be small and light enough to have gate checked or even go in the wardrobe cupboard if one actually travels onboard the aircraft in a different chair supplied by the airline. Yes, one would possibly have to hire someone to pack and unpack the wheelchair, but this is what most people do when shipping important articles. Remember, 42 grand is on the line, and this is a piece of specialized equipment that is essential to the person's daily living requirements. Airlines transport medical equipment and samples every day, but that doesn't mean that their staff are the best equipped to know how to pack that equipment or those samples for transit.

One would also need to hire someone to push one in the transfer chair for short periods at both ends of the journey, and so one would compromise one's independence to that degree, but it's either a planned loss of independence for a short time, or an unplanned loss of independence indefinitely, should the chair be damaged. The cost of hiring the labour would still be less than trying to insure such an expensive item that is packed 'ad hoc' at the last minute.

2) Packing it in a crate would mean it's wheels wouldn't be available to move it around--making the problem of stowing it much worse.

Outside of the passenger transport industry, virtually all shipping worldwide involves the cargo being packed in crates, more commonly called containers, for shipment. The wheels to move the containers around are on the equipment designed to transfer the containers to the plane waiting on the tarmac (or ship waiting dockside), etc. etc. If you watch cargo being loaded/unloaded at container piers in ports worldwide, you soon discover why they are called 'container' piers. Airplanes were once called 'airships.' It's doable.

3) A crate wouldn't work any better for getting tied down properly, nor against the cases of stuff being dropped.

Again, take a look at the container shipping industry, and why it developed. For that matter, look at how FedEX or UPS advise their clients on shipping goods. I shipped household goods via UPS, I didn't wrap the stuff in brown paper parcels, I bought packing boxes (because the items were much, much lighter than a wheelchair, cardboard sufficed; otherwise I'd have needed wooden or metal boxes); foam packing chips, bubble wrap, packing tape. The box or container is modular and it most certainly is easier to move around and secure for shipment by the shipper, and is most certainly better, if not infallibly, protected from drops.

The forces of whatever is being used to tie objects down will be applied to the corners of the crate/container, and the crate/container constitutes a buffer between the contents and the outside world. The chair will be bubble wrapped and more shock absorbing material can be added in the space between chair and crate walls. Besides, if the crate/container itself and not the contents gets damaged, this is the least of one's worries.