£18 to use a wheelchair
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: STN and HPN
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A little bit of progress
Those of you not happy with the small print in Ryanair's terms and condition will be pleased to view Ryanair's Passenger Charter which now lists the prices and service providers.
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: UK
Age: 46
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I guess the Judge who presides over the case will have to decide a number of things:
1) Having purchased the tickets, and therefore agreed to the airlines terms and conditions, does he then have any recourse to sue.
2) Is it discriminatory for the airline/handling agent/wheelchair company, to charge for the service provided - at the end of the day someone has to pay for it.
If Ryanair lose would they be in their rights to say they will no longer carry passengers who require such assistance.
1) Having purchased the tickets, and therefore agreed to the airlines terms and conditions, does he then have any recourse to sue.
2) Is it discriminatory for the airline/handling agent/wheelchair company, to charge for the service provided - at the end of the day someone has to pay for it.
If Ryanair lose would they be in their rights to say they will no longer carry passengers who require such assistance.
Join Date: May 2001
Location: UK
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DDA as applies to transport
Ryan air would find it difficult to refuse.
Uk based personel MUST read this link Consultation Draft Access to Air Travel for Disabled People
Uk based personel MUST read this link Consultation Draft Access to Air Travel for Disabled People
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Hong Kong
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Having skimmed the linked documents, it seems to me that Ryanair's stated policy does indeed conform with the law and the proposals of the "Consultation Draft...". The Draft talks clearly about the disabled users with their own wheelchairs, and Ryanair's published policy appears to align with the recommendations.
The difficulty arises only in regard to users who do not bring their own wheelchair but request the use of one on their transit through the airport.
It is by no means clear to me that the responsibility here lies with the airline - the authorities at 50 out of the 56 airports which Ryanair serve provide such wheelchairs free of charge. Ryanair claims to be lobbying the other 6 (presumably including Stansted) to provide this service "free".
Of ocurse, the service is not "free" - a larger population simply has to cover the cost which is hidden somewhere else. Assuming that as a society we wish to accept the cost of supporting disabled people then the only question is how and across what population do you raise the "social tax". Possibilities include National Insurance or Income tax (across all "taxpayers"), airport service charges (across all "airport users"), airline fares (across everyone using the airline), or (a ridiculous extreme) a surcharge on the passengers on a specific flight.
Since at an airport the logical way for wheelchairs to be provided is by the airport authority it would seem to me that the best place to collect this social tax would be in the airport service charge, which is essentially what the 50 (out of 56) airports are doing.
The difficulty arises only in regard to users who do not bring their own wheelchair but request the use of one on their transit through the airport.
It is by no means clear to me that the responsibility here lies with the airline - the authorities at 50 out of the 56 airports which Ryanair serve provide such wheelchairs free of charge. Ryanair claims to be lobbying the other 6 (presumably including Stansted) to provide this service "free".
Of ocurse, the service is not "free" - a larger population simply has to cover the cost which is hidden somewhere else. Assuming that as a society we wish to accept the cost of supporting disabled people then the only question is how and across what population do you raise the "social tax". Possibilities include National Insurance or Income tax (across all "taxpayers"), airport service charges (across all "airport users"), airline fares (across everyone using the airline), or (a ridiculous extreme) a surcharge on the passengers on a specific flight.
Since at an airport the logical way for wheelchairs to be provided is by the airport authority it would seem to me that the best place to collect this social tax would be in the airport service charge, which is essentially what the 50 (out of 56) airports are doing.
