By Lisa A. Goldstein

Pittsburgh, PA - Feb 28, 2008 - When it comes to flying the friendly skies, how friendly are airlines when it comes to people with disabilities? What are airlines doing to make air travel more accessible? What's currently in place, and what's planned for the future? xAble decided to take a look at a few airlines to find out.

US Airways
On US Airways' web site, there's a page titled Policies and Special Needs. The categories seem comprehensive. Under special needs, for example, is pregnancy, children and infants, as well as special meals/food allergies. The disabilities category ranges from medical disability to service animals and care attendants. Of course, the page for special meals/food allergies only talks about peanut allergies. And much of the information provided for the various disabilities is self-explanatory - such as informing various employees of the disability and need for assistance.

This airline has a special reservations number that directs customers with special needs to the US Airways Customer Care Team, "which is dedicated to advocating and ensuring a positive travel experience for our customers with disabilities," says Michelle Mohr, US Airways spokesperson. She adds that customers may also book through the standard reservations number, but the aforementioned number is a direct line to the Disability Team.

When asked if anything is planned for the future to make the airline more accessible, Mohr's response was, "Customers have full access now."

Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines has Traveling Tips for Customers with Disabilities on its web site. This listing is more comprehensive than US Airways, including cognitive and developmental disabilities and providing extensive information on portable oxygen concentrators (POCs). Again, much of the general information is straightforward, yet Southwest appears to go into more detail.

"One of the aspects that sets us apart from some of the other airlines," says Chris Mainz, Southwest Airlines spokesperson, "is we have a Customer Advocacy Department whose full-time mission is to make sure that we are looking out for the special needs of customers with disabilities. We actively work with outside organizations, including the Open Doors Organization, the Oregon State Advisory Board of Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Accessible Public Transportation, and the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality to ensure the safe transportation of customers with disabilities and effective sensitivity awareness training of all of our customer-contact employees."

According to Mainz, Southwest was the first airline to make its web site accessible to customers who are blind, through the use of screen readers. Also, says Mainz, "We have consistently received the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded of all major U.S. carriers that have been reporting statistics to the Department of Transportation (DOT) since September 1987, which is when the DOT began tracking customer satisfaction statistics and publishing its Air Travel Consumer Report."

Southwest is continually enhancing its service to make air transportation accessible through technology, physical devices, training of contract assistance personnel, and constant review and revision of policies and procedures "in an effort to make sure that we are the safest and friendliest airline in the skies for customers with disabilities," says Mainz.

Mobility Air Transport
One airline that is not in existence yet but hopes to be operational by this summer is Mobility Air Transport (www.iflymat.org). As its web site states, "Air travel for those in wheelchairs is difficult to say the least. We at MAT intend to change that. We are developing a new class of transportation travel that combines the convenience, comfort, and efficiency of corporate planes with the low cost of scheduled airlines."

Founder Ken Wilson's original vision was to allow people who can't get out of their wheelchairs at all, or for long periods of time, to fly. In his research, he discovered that even those who can be transferred to an airline seat were afraid to travel because of what can happen to their wheelchair.

"In 2004 alone, there were over 10,000 complaints to the government about wheelchair damage from the airlines," says Wilson, a pilot and former flight attendant. "Who knows how many users received minor damage on the chair but didn't want to go through the hassles and time of filing out a report. Another report said that 48 percent of the time, there is wheelchair damage of some sort."

Many other traveling hassles are mitigated with MAT's concept. Benefits include no parking issues or checking luggage, room for one to five companions as well as room for assist animals and medical equipment, along with no waiting to get off the plane or for luggage.

Hopefully MAT will spur change across the board. "It is such a competitive business and money is so tight that I can see where [airlines] would be short sighted," says Wilson. "The airlines probably lose millions of dollars every year dealing with travelers using wheelchairs because of chair damage, delays, and poor reputation for customer service."