People with disability still dealing with inaccessible air travel as aviation reforms drag on

Disability advocate Jono Bredin was excited to be invited to speak about inclusive housing at a summit in Canberra this month.

But the Melbourne resident, who lives with cerebral palsy, soon found out there were no flights on any airline — or accommodation once he got there — that could assist with his needs.

He said the irony of being unable to attend an accessibility event due to inaccessible transport wasn't lost on him.

"I was very angry," he said.

Mr Bredin's power wheelchair exceeded the allowed height for most aircraft flying from Melbourne to Canberra, and the only flights that allowed a chair of that size did not provide hoist transfers.

The only other transfer option, a slide board transfer, would be very difficult and require the support of multiple people, including airline staff who may not be trained.

Mr Bredin said he has turned down several work opportunities outside of Victoria due to accessible flights being unavailable and been forced to take 10-hour train rides instead of 1.5-hour flights to see his family.

He said it was hard to believe air travel for people with disability was "still an issue in such a developed country".

"It makes me lose faith in people and companies," he said.

People with all kinds of disability have faced issues during air travel for decades, reported being humiliated, having wheelchairs broken and assistance animals turned away, being left in an aircraft or terminals for hours, and having to shoulder extra costs.

Last August, the federal government made a series of accessibility pledges as part of the release of the Aviation White Paper.

No timeline was set on the reforms at the time, and almost 12 months on, people with disability like Mr Bredin are still facing issues.

"They do the bare minimum to make it look like they care … but there is no intentional demonstration for inclusion."

'Happens every time' you fly

Sheetal Balakrishnan, a senior solicitor at the Justice and Equity Centre (JEC), which represents people with disability in discrimination complaints, said her firm frequently heard from people who had issues flying by air.

"For some people, they say that it happens every time they fly," she said.

One of the JEC's newest clients is Chelsea Hopkins-Allan, who said she was left thousands of dollars out of pocket and missed two flights home when trying to travel from Sydney to Albany in regional Western Australia with Qantas.

Ms Hopkins-Allan lives with several health conditions that exacerbate her muscle weakness and fatigue, and uses a motorised scooter when she travels.

The 37-year-old has travelled with her scooter on Rex, Virgin and Jetstar without issue, and before booking with Qantas, did extensive research and booked accessibility services that would meet her and the airline's requirements.

She said Qantas gave her conflicting advice about travelling with her scooter and battery, misplaced parts of her scooter, and left her waiting alone for long periods.

When Ms Hopkins-Allan was unable to use her scooter, she became unwell and sat in a toilet stall for an hour until she recovered enough energy to walk the distance across the terminal to figure out how to get home.

She said she was not offered vouchers, food or accommodation, and in the end, a relative was forced to drive almost 10 hours to Perth and back to take her home.

"It felt like a failure at an organisational level," Ms Hopkins-Allan said.

She has made a complaint against Qantas to the Human Rights Commission, arguing the airline breached the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

"Qantas has to provide its services in an accessible way. At the heart of Chelsea's complaint is that Qantas didn't provide the assistance that she needed … and if a service is not accessible, we say it's disability discrimination," Ms Balakrishnan said.

In a statement, a Qantas spokesperson apologised to Ms Hopkins-Allan for her "very upsetting experience" and it was now offering compensation.

"We have made a number of improvements to how we support customers with specific needs since this occurred, however we are thoroughly investigating the experience she had to ensure this doesn't happen again," they said.

A turning point?

The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations has been involved in the consultation and co-design of the aviation standards recommended by the white paper, alongside other disability, legal and aviation sector representatives.

CEO Ross Joyce said talks had been very positive so far but the scale of the issue remained significant and people with disability "were sick of it".

In a statement, Federal Transport Minister Catherine King said what people with disability had been experiencing was "simply not good enough" and she attended a co-design workshop last week.

"We're determined to act and improve outcomes in this space," a spokesperson said.

"Thanks to the invaluable contributions of the participants at the workshops, we will continue developing the new Aviation Disability Standards to improve the experience of air travel for people with disability. We are aiming to finalise the new standards in 2026."

Lobby group Airlines for Australia and New Zealand said airlines were happy to have contributed to the co-design workshops.

"Airlines are committed to working with the disability community, airports, government, and safety regulators to explore safe and feasible solutions that reduce barriers to air travel — with airlines proactively introducing multiple initiatives to improve travel experiences for people with a disability," chair Graeme Samuel said.