Disabled travelers are not content simply with the purchase of cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, or cheap vacation packages. Unfortunately not all airports are compliant when it comes to the enforcement of the Air Carrier Access Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Obstacles continue to exist for the disabled at many U.S. airports.
More airports and airlines need to pay attention to the buying power of disabled travelers. Approximately 55 million Americans have some sort of disability. Disabled travelers spend almost $14 billion per year on travel, spending over $3 billion per year just on airplane travel.
As a result of continuing medical care and life expectancy improvements, the number of American disabled travelers is expected to increase to over 80 million over the next 20 years. This projection is probably understated because it does not include people who do not see themselves as having a disability. An increasing number of aging boomers will have trouble seeing information on flight display boards and hearing overhead announcements. Also temporarily disabled people travel, such as a vacationer traveling home with a broken leg.
Recently over 80 percent of disabled travelers surveyed by the Open Doors Organization (ODO) reported encountering obstacles at airports and with airline personnel.
ODO points out that removing obstacles at airports makes traveling easier for everyone, not just disabled travelers:
Curb cuts help people with strollers and wheeled luggage as well as travelers using wheelchairs, canes or scooters.
Family bathrooms help parents traveling with young children while offering grab bars and other amenities for disabled travelers.
Often general use airport bathrooms are cleaner because of ADA compliant self flush toilets, automatic faucets and motion sensing paper towel dispensers.
Wave through entryways reduce the spread of germs by eliminating the need for people to touch door handles.
Visual paging systems assist hearing impaired travelers, but all passengers benefit from being exposed to additional ways to receive emergency messages and courtesy pages.
We will all win when airports and planes are universally accessible.
www.cheapfares.com