Accessible Airplane Travel

Did you know that you can sit in your wheelchair on a bus, in an accessible van, and on some trains, but not on an airplane? So, if you require a wheelchair to get about in the world, and you must go a long distance, how do you get there? This is a problem Astonished! Core Member, Kennen Dorgan, and All Wheels Up are trying to resolve. All Wheels Up is a United States of America (USA) based organization that is testing the safety of wheelchairs in airplanes and petitioning the USA government (and now the Canadian government) for the creation of wheelchair accessible spaces on planes. Kennen Dorgan is organizing a letter writing campaign to the Canadian government.

This is the first paragraph of Kennen’s letter:

Dear Prime Minister,

My name is Kennen Dorgan.  My dream is to fly to Alaska to visit my sister. I have a complex physical disAbility and I use a wheelchair for mobility. I cannot sit independently from my wheelchair and airplanes do not have designated wheelchair spots. Every summer I spend at least 108 hours of challenging and exhausting driving time to visit with my sister in Alaska. A flight would take 15 to 20 hours.

Kennen and Astonished! are asking you to become part of her letter writing campaign. To learn more about what you can do please click here…

Photo: Altn-Yildiz Bekirova. Kennen Dorgan, Tanya Korpoetsky