Ryanair fined for discrimination

Last week, a disabled woman successfully sued Ryanair after her husband was forced to carry her onto an aircraft using a fireman’s lift after a wheelchair life [sic] failed to arrive and the couple faced missing their flight.

Wheelchair-bound Jo Heath, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, won £1,750 compensation for Ryanair’s failure to provide the assistance and breach of disability discrimination laws.

You can read more on the Daily Telegraph’s website.

Note also that Swiss International Airlines is also under fire for refusing to let a wheelchair user board:

Shuaib Chalklen, the UN’s “special rapporteur on disability” has complained to the European Commission after he was denied boarding on a flight from Heathrow to Geneva because he is a wheelchair user.

It’s bad enough struggling to board aircraft in less developed countries where airports and airlines might be expected not to be geared up for passengers with disabilities. But it’s quite outrageous for this to be happening in the EU – nearly six years after the regulations on disabled passengers’ rights came into force. It’s all very well having laws to lay down binding standards, but what use is it if the laws are ignored?

Please comment if you have anything to say on the issue or want to tell us about your own experiences.