Candid Comment - Traveling While Disabled - It's Up To You To Plan!!

Recently Air Canada had to admit that they goofed when it came to dealing with a passenger who is blind.  Dana Wainwright, a Canadian who lives in the U.S. was not allowed to bring her service dog on to the flight home from Toronto to Minnesota.  Her return home was altered, she had to take a train car and then plane home, cost 2000 dollars and a whole lot of ooooo I am not happy with Air Canada.

To be fair the airline does make it clear that persons with service animals must register before the flight. That is on Ms. Wainwright, she should have known that as it was pointed out to her on the inbound leg of her journey into Toronto on AIR CANADA.  Being good sports they allowed the dog to board with her.  That said on the trip home that did not happen.  So where is the fault for Air Canada.  The way they handled it.  The biggest being not wanting to speak with Ms. Wainwright, but with her daughter.  Woah, not cool not cool at all.  They could have also made a second exception to allow the dog on and provided polite but, firm clear instructions, that in future the dog must be registered.  So in reality here both are at fault.  Ms. Wainwright should  have called to check before the flights to ensure the dog would be allowed on board and Air Canada staff should have been more respectful.

I have travelled on planes trains and buses myself.  Locally I am on a bus everyday.  I am aware of the rules for the system I am on, and or I try to be aware of them.

For example:

HSR the local bus company here in Hamilton allows me to ride fare free.  BUT, I have to show proof that I am allowed to do so and that means showing my CNIB card.

GO Transit allows me to ride on on one fare and have a person as guide. If I choose not to have a guide guess what, I pay for the ride.

Toronto TTC allows free travel, but you need two cards, one is the CNIB and the other a special pass that is issued by TTC.  Now a lot of times the staff will allow for a person to go through, like me without the pass from TTC, they know a tourist may come through, or a patron is from another city.  OK but, I have been stopped and yes told I have to pay, and so I did.

In Quebec the CNIB card is NOT recognized so I have to pay for the trips.

On VIA I pay one fare for 2 people.

You see the trend right.  Now to be fair here Ms. Wainwright is not registered with CNIB and that makes things tougher for her in  Canada as a whole. That is where the gap lies.  For now it would probably be wise for her to call ahead and check before traveling.

As for the agencies.  Sure some disabled people are grumpy and not so nice.  Ugh I am so sad to know that this is a thing.  As I work in the service industry and deal with rudeness each day.  But, the job still requires tact and respect as well as integrity and being aware that the situation may require a bit of thinking outside of the box.  I applaud Air Canada for apologizing, that shows that they are listening and want to do better.  

An informed person is going to make better decisions about anything including travel.  Air Canada has staff who can help people with disabilities travel.  It's the Medical Desk team that provides info on hat to expect and what is and is not allowed on a flight.  Westjet and other carriers like them and Air Canada have specific guidelines and it's up to you not them to plan for the trip, whether you are disabled or not.