Air Travel with a New Wheelchair - need advice

swebbing

My adult son has had an upgrade to his wheelchair from a stroller-type to a full wheelchair with removable cushions specifically designed to meet his scoliosis needs.

We are travelling on holiday soon, and I am realising that this new chair is a bit more complicated than the last. When folded, it needs to be separated into three parts: the main frame, the back and the seat cushion.

How do people manage this? We were thinking there may be a wheelchair cover/bag that we can put the main frame in, but then we also have the two cushions… which are rather large. Are there issues we will encounter with the airlines with this?

Previously, we just folded up the large stroller-type wheelchair and they put it in the hold at the gate, but it can't be that straight forward this time?

Thank you in advance for any advice/help.

Sarah

SheffieldMan1976

I'd email or ring the Airline and ask them.

JW77

Basically we did everything on this list,

https://www.disabilityid.co.uk/blog/flying-with-a-disability-a-practical-guide

taking a Trekentic to Madeira was an experience! We also discovered that airlines have different door sizes for the hold, so that narrowed down who we flew with..

The glitchy bit was the battery.. It WAS listed as safe but had to be disconnected before loading..

NeuroEve

We take the foot rests and cushion off at the airplane door and put into a bag in the overhead locker. We also put a tag on with her name and destination on the wheelchair frame.

Stellar

You're better off going by train. If you're going within Europe, this is viable to the majority of places. Not worth the risk of airlines breaking your chair.

swebbing

Thank you for your comments. Lots of very useful help!