About a month ago, my foot was unfortunately injured. At the same time, I had already booked a lot of flights for the coming weeks, so I wondered what I should do. In fact, almost every airline provides wheelchair assistance to help people with full or partial mobility limitations. Many countries also have laws that require no discrimination against people with mobility impairments and require reasonable assistance to be provided (see the U.S. 1986 Air Carrier Access Act and the EU Council Regulation No. 1107/2006). To be helpful to others, to experience travel as people with disabilities do, and because I had already spent the money on these flights, I decided to share this experience.
First, wheelchair assistance is not only for disabled people or people who cannot walk at all. Anyone with reduced mobility can request it, and no proof is required. If your parents are coming and are physically weak or move slowly—even if they are not unable to walk—they can also use this service. On the other hand, if your mobility is fine but you are simply unfamiliar with the airport flow, or you only worry about long immigration queues, that is not really the target for wheelchair assistance. In practice, people usually won’t question it. But from my month of observations, many airports do not have enough staff for wheelchair support, so it is better not to misuse the service just to jump lines and affect people who truly need it.
How to request wheelchair assistance
Almost all major airlines, whether low-cost carriers or not, generally offer wheelchair services. Many airline websites let you request wheelchair assistance during booking or after booking, which is the most convenient and fastest way. You can also contact the ticketing or operating airline, or your travel agency if your ticket was issued by one. For a connecting itinerary, one request is enough to cover all segments, regardless of which airline actually operates each leg.
Because each person’s situation can differ, IATA provides standard codes so airlines know what level of wheelchair assistance you need:
- WCHR: The passenger has limited walking ability, needs a wheelchair within the airport, and does not need help boarding.
- WCHS: This is probably the most common—chairwheel assistance inside the airport plus help boarding and disembarking, mainly for remote stands where stairs are required.
- WCHC: The passenger has no ability to walk and also needs an on-board wheelchair.
In addition to wheelchair needs, there are specific codes for other special requirements, such as being blind or deaf. Note that airlines may ask for advance notice so they can make arrangements.
Airport experience
During recovery, I took a number of flights, so for this post I’ll use my trip from San Francisco (SFO) via Vancouver (YVR) to Frankfurt (FRA). The first segment was United, the second was operated by Air Canada.
Before departure, I had already called the airline to tell them I needed wheelchair assistance. On departure day, I hobbled from home with my bags to the front door, took an Uber to San Francisco International Airport, and went straight to the United check-in counter. After my boarding pass was printed, they told me someone with a wheelchair would arrive within 10 minutes and asked me to wait in a nearby seat. After a few minutes, a staff member arrived pushing a wheelchair. He placed my small carry-on under the chair, and I sat down. He scanned my boarding pass with a handheld device and we set off.
We skipped the line and went straight into the ID and document check queue. After checking my boarding pass and documents, we moved directly to the X-ray area. The staff member and I each put our bags on the conveyor belt. Because I was wearing a protective boot (Medical boot), security did not ask me to remove my shoe. I went straight through the metal detector, then they manually checked the shoe, swabbed it in several places, and tested it with an explosive trace detector. Overall, the process took about two minutes longer than normal, and then we were let into the terminal.
The attendant took me to the gate. Boarding had just started, and because I was classified as a passenger needing assistance, I got on the plane before Global Services. Since this was in the U.S., and considering there was not much baggage service, I tipped the staff member five dollars at the end. I did not tip anyone in Canada or Europe.
Fast-forward to Vancouver International Airport: after stepping off the plane on one foot, a staff member already had the wheelchair waiting at the aircraft door. He only pushed me inside the terminal and had me sit until a few other passengers had collected and we all took an electric cart to immigration. In the transfer corridor, I was then dropped off; transfer staff there (not CBSA) looked at my boarding pass and passport, then let me go downstairs directly into the international departures section of the terminal. Since there was still time before boarding, I asked a nearby airport staff member to call a cart to take me to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. Once inside, front desk staff proactively booked a cart pickup for me before boarding. At the scheduled time, the small cart arrived in the lounge and took me to the gate, and again I boarded first.
At Frankfurt, another German staff member met me outside the aircraft door and pushed me to the Schengen immigration external processing lane. Since I was in a wheelchair, I could not see the immigration officer; he did not ask any questions and let me through directly. I had no checked luggage, so after that the attendant pushed me to the short-distance train station (Regionalbahnhof) and then let me off.
Summary
Overall, my wheelchair experience has been broadly similar at most airports, with waiting time the only notable difference. For people with walking difficulties, wheelchair assistance does make air travel much less miserable. The only important thing to remember is that in the U.S., you should be prepared to tip the person who pushes the wheelchair, and if they also help with checked bag retrieval, an extra tip is usually expected.
In terms of speed, although wheelchair service can let you cut in line, it does not always get you to your destination faster because of waits for staff or vehicles. If your schedule is tight, it is still best to give notice to avoid delays. If you have plenty of time, you can also request to use an airport lounge, though lounges generally do not provide wheelchairs inside, so if you want to eat you may still need to move around on your own.