Government silence on new flight rights laws, after documentary exposes discrimination

The new government has refused to say if it will introduce laws aimed at improving protection for disabled air passengers, after a powerful new documentary exposed the repeated discrimination they face.

Sophie Morgan’s Fight to Fly, broadcast on Monday by Channel 4, sees the disabled television presenter investigate the abuse, dehumanising treatment, damaged equipment and even physical harm experienced by wheelchair-users who travel by air.

The Conservative government promised last year to introduce new laws that would address many of the issues raised in the programme, but only when “parliamentary time allows”.

Those laws would have removed the limit on compensation paid by airlines that damage wheelchairs or other mobility aids on domestic UK flights, and boosted the powers of the industry regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), allowing it to impose fines for the first time.

But the Conservative government never introduced the legislation, and left it out of its election manifesto, and now Labour ministers are facing the same pressure to act.

Having also failed to include the measures in its manifesto, or this month’s king’s speech, the Labour-run Department for Transport refused to say this week if it would bring in the legislation.

Morgan (pictured) makes it clear in the documentary that the key barriers she and other disabled passengers face are “attitudinal”.

She says disabled travellers are “treated like second-class citizens” and “regularly feel they’re victims of discrimination”.

She says: “I have to travel the world for my job, but almost every flight is a battle.”

The programme includes three groups of disabled activists who secretly film their experiences on flights to and from UK airports.

They are seen being abandoned on planes, forced to crawl to the toilet on a flight because there is no aisle chair provided by the airline, and being physically harmed by airport staff.

Two of the activists are delayed in an airport because their airline has lost the information they provided in advance about the size of their wheelchairs, and they are then blamed publicly once they board for delaying the flight.

Morgan attends a conference in Paris with managers responsible for “special assistance services” for disabled passengers and finds she is the only person there with a physical impairment.

She says: “These things have been going on for years without disabled people at them. It just feels a bit icky to me.”

Morgan also questions in the documentary why airlines have so far failed to design their aircraft to allow disabled people to stay in their wheelchairs on flights, and she speaks to one consortium in the US that has designed a way to make that happen, a simple design that she describes as life-changing.

She says: “The next generation of disabled people will not have to deal with the trauma and the abuse that disabled people have been dealing with for decades because of this one space on board an aircraft.

“All I need to do now is convince the airlines to take action and to treat us as equals worthy of the space.”

The Department for Transport refused to comment on the documentary or say if it would take on the pledge made by the last government to introduce laws to improve the protection offered to disabled air passengers.

But transport secretary Louise Haigh said in a statement: “Everyone has the right to travel and be treated with dignity and it is vital that flying is an accessible, safe and enjoyable experience for all.

“We are committed to working closely with industry and stakeholders to make progress in enhancing the accessibility of aviation.”

CAA had not commented on the documentary or the need for new legislation by 11am today (Thursday), although it made it clear that it would like stronger enforcement powers.

It also pointed to information on its website for disabled air travellers.

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