Action against Jetstar's Two Wheelchair Policy Continues
Wednesday, 03 February 2010
Yesterday the following story was broken on the continuing saga of Sheila King's action against Jetstar. It would seem that over the last twelve months Jetstar has had more than enough incidents to learn from if it was going to lift its game towards passengers with disabilities. This case is not about any monetary settlement but about its policy of a maximum of two wheelchair passengers per flight.
The Federal Government has for the past twelve months been convening an Aviation Access Working Group looking for the airlines to show leadership on these issues. Apart from Qantas our industry lags behind both the United States and Europe in the access provided to people with disabilities. One has to question why Sheila King is left to fight this action as an individual when the AAWG is supposed to be changing policy. Either we are serious about providing a commensurate level of access to that provided by the US and Europe or we are not. It would appear that our Disability Discrimination Act lacks the teeth to overcome the undue hardship provisions to force the airlines to upgrade their service. If after a year the AAWG cant resolve some of these basic issues maybe it is time for the Federal Government to toughen the DDA or look at legislation similar to the US Air Carriers Access Act. Yesterday's story and the original press release are below:
Lawyers for a disabled woman who is suing Jetstar after she was banned from a flight from Adelaide to Brisbane have agreed to make one last attempt to settle before going to a Federal Court hearing.
Sheila King booked her flight over the internet in August 2008 but was contacted the next day and told she would not be able to fly on that day because there were already two passengers requiring wheelchair assistance booked on the flight.
She was told Jetstar had a policy of only allowing a maximum of two wheelchair-reliant passengers on any flight.
Ms King has taken the low-budget airline to the Federal Court, claiming it discriminated against her by "treating her less favourably than a passenger who did not have a mobility disability that required the use of a wheelchair", a statement of claim tendered to the court says.
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate release 24 November 2009
Jetstar in the hot seat in the Federal Court over wheelchair access
Jetstar is in the Federal Court over a claim by a customer who was denied access to a flight because she required wheelchair assistance.
Sheila King has had post-polio syndrome since childhood. In 2008 she was involved in a car accident which resulted in 3 crushed vertebrae and 3 broken ribs. As a result she relies on a manual wheelchair.
In August 2008 Ms King, a resident in Queensland, was a speaker at the Australian Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology’s “Creating value through Participation” conference in Adelaide. She booked her return flight from Adelaide on Jetstar. After booking and paying for ticket, Ms King was advised by Jetstar that she would not be able to fly, because Jetstar has a policy of not accepting more than two people requiring wheelchair assistance on any flight. As there was only one flight a day on Jetstar, Ms King was forced to rebook on another airline a greater cost.
In a claim commenced in the Federal Court, Ms King alleges Jetstar’s policy falls foul of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and the Disability Standard for Accessible Public Transport.
Ms King is seeking no personal outcome from this case- she simply wants Jetstar to change its policy.
Joanna Shulman, Principal Solicitor at the Disability Discrimination Legal Centre said the case raises important questions of access. “People with disabilities experience higher levels of unemployment and social isolation and access to transport is a major cause of this social exclusion.”
The importance of this issue was highlighted in the recent Australian government report ‘Shut Out: the Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia.’ which recorded that “People with disabilities are still unable to access air travel in the same way as other members of the community. The inability or unwillingness of staff to assist travellers remains unresolved. The significant costs associated with pursuing a case through the Australian Human Rights Commission against airlines with significant resources at their disposal can act as a deterrent to achieving change through the legal system.”
Ms Shulman confirmed the problem of access to air travel is endemic “we regularly hear from clients who have been denied access to transport, and unfortunately the airline sector has been particularly slow to embrace the principal of equal access”.
“Airline discrimination is a daily experience for people with disability, and has been an issue for many years” said Therese Sands, Executive Director, People with Disability Australia, “And a great amount of effort is required of individuals to go through a complaints process. Its time airlines agreed to national standards that would ensure people with disability had the same access to airline travel as everyone else in the community”.
Until National Standards are developed, we are relying on individual litigants like Shelia King to agitate the issue. Sheila King’s matter is back before the Federal Court in February.
<ENDS>
Joanna Shulman
Principal Solicitor, NSW Disability Discrimination Legal Centre Inc.
P: +61 2 9310 7722