As part of a coalition of nonprofit organizations advocating for safe and accessible air travel, United Spinal Association collaborated with Paralyzed Veterans of America, Hand In Hand and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation issued a joint statement in response to a settlement agreement reached by the U.S. Department of Transportation and United Airlines following a complaint from the late disability rights advocate Engracia Figueroa.
In July 2021, Figueroa returned home to Los Angeles after speaking at a rally in the nation’s capital and discovered the airline had severely damaged her custom wheelchair. Stuck in a low-quality manual wheelchair for five hours at the airport, the airline sent her home in an ill-fitting loaner chair. After spending weeks in an improper chair fighting for the airline to fix her wheelchair, Figueroa developed pressure ulcers that became infected and spread to her bones. Despite emergency surgeries, she passed away in the morning on Sunday, October 31, 2021.
“While nothing can erase the pain and suffering Engracia endured, nor bring her back to her family and community, we recognize the actions that United Airlines will be required to take as part of the settlement with the Department of Transportation and see it as an important first step forward in acknowledging the challenges and real dangers that many people with disabilities encounter when they travel by air.
We also see this as an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of accessible air travel and the ramifications of when it is not. Engracia’s experiences, like those of countless wheelchair users and other people with disabilities, are all too familiar. It is critical that the airline industry better account for wheelchairs and meet accessibility standards with improved handling and stowage options of assistive devices; enhanced complaint processing; and increased training of airline contractors to ensure passengers’ bodily safety.
While today’s announcement is welcomed, much more needs to be done to increase air travel accessibility and prevent injury and loss of life. We must also strengthen enforcement to protect passengers with disabilities; provide a private right of action allowing them to sue; and continue the study into the ability of passengers to fly in their personal wheelchairs. Until that time, we must have more stringent requirements for boarding and deplaning assistance. We call on ALL airlines to step up, do more, and not wait until there is another tragedy (or they are required) to take action.
People with disabilities are tired of hearing that real change is years away. They are also tired of having their custom assistive devices broken and waiting for months on end for them to be fixed. They deserve safe, accessible air travel and to be treated with dignity and respect now. Our goal is to be the voice of all those being treated unjustly and to never again lose someone, like Engracia, because an airline failed to ensure her safety.”
Air travel takes a toll on assistive devices that is vital for survival – over 32,000 wheelchairs were damaged, delayed or lost during air travel between 2019 and 2022. That’s about 31 wheelchairs per day, or like breaking the legs of up to 31 people daily without any timely support. Each incident of a broken wheelchair and scooter can result in a total loss of independence for weeks or months, and in some cases a loss of life, like Engracia. To help stop wheelchair damage and raise awareness of the importance of accessible air travel, sign our Action Alert.