How "friendly" is our Airlines (Airasia/MAS/Firefly) to OKU or warga emas on wheelchair?

[Jun Mishima 0]

 

as the topic said...

 

i just wondering.. since i'm going to buy a ticket for my 75 years old grandmother to go to JB from Penang (she wanted to go to her daughter house there) of she'll have another adult with her for the trip...

 

my question being...

1. what about the wheelchair? will they folded it and bring it onboard? or she have to be seated on the wheelchair the whole trip while the wheelchair been strapped to the floor?

2. Will they be able to help her on & off the aircraft (of course the accompaniying adult would help but an extra hand would be most welcomed)

3. Or need to use the airline wheelchair while dumping her own wheelchair in the cargo?

 

does anyone have any experience with this? can share the thought?

 

thanks in advance

 

jun

[Nik H. 3]

1.For scheduled B747 Mh provides an aisle wheelchair and MH groundstaff will assist from check-in to arrival. Pax will be given a slip for handling of pax wheelchair into and out of the cargo compartment.

 

Wheelchair pax on Haj flights are common and we have specific processes laid down to handle these pax with ease and dignity. Aisle wheelchairs are available on these flights and wheelchair pax will normally board the aircraft first. Fitri has pictures of wheelchair pax handling on his TGG Haj story.

 

2. For B737 and other flights where the aisle is too narrow to accomodate the aisle wheelchair, MH will provide ground staff to bring the pax right up to the aircraft door, and the wheelchair will be placed into the cargo compartment. On arrival the wheelchair will be brought to the door from the cargo compartment and the aircraft door.

 

Depending on the ambulatory state of the pax, the ground staff will assist or carry the pax to/from his/her seat.

 

Never heard of any complaint of pax having to crawl......

[Jun Mishima 0]

thanks Nik

 

i would expect this kind of service from MAS... awesome...

 

what about AIRASIA & Firefly? so their aisle to narrow for the wheelchair? no one to assist to the plane?

 

jun

[Tim Lee 6]

Jun, you have a slight complication here. This is because you are travelling JBH-PEN which would mean JBH-KUL-KUL-PEN. There maybe a transit at KUL

 

For KUL and PEN, there would be no issue of bringing your Grandmother right up to the aircraft because of the aerobridge.

 

I believe JHB does not have aerobridge facility so depending on the state of your Grandmother, MH will provide assistance up to the aircraft door either using an ambulift of manually.

 

I have travelled once on MH with a disabled friend and MH does give priority to seat the disabled first. His was transferred to a wheelchair provided by MH and his wheelchair was put into the cargo hold at the boarding gate. My disabled friend was helped from the door to the seat and was seated before everone else. I guess it would be difficult if there the other passengers are already boarding or have already boarded.

 

A wheelchair was waiting for us at the aircraft door when we arrived and his wheelchair was given back to him after baggage.

 

I think rthe aerobridge is a great facility for the disabled.

[flee 5]

If you are flying from JHB to PEN it is probably best to stick with MH to avoid any possible problems.

 

 

[S V Choong 4]

One question came to mind. How does people on wheelchair go to the loo when their wheelchairs are at the cargo compartment? Accessible toilets are provided for people on wheelchair as far as I know.

 

For long haul flights, it is likely that these disadvantaged people will have to journey down to the toilet as well at some stage...

 

IIRC, Air Asia will ask if you have any special need when you book a flight with them. Wheelchair being one of them?

Edited April 24, 2009 by S V Choong

[flee 5]

Jun, you have a slight complication here. This is because you are travelling JBH-PEN which would mean JBH-KUL-KUL-PEN. There maybe a transit at KUL

Oh bummer! It is always best to take a direct flgiht and right now only Firefly and AirAsia flies JHB-PEN direct! Well if you book early enough, Firefly has the RM0 fare available (RM 70 inclusive of taxes, insurance and admin fee) while AirAsia has RM 29 fares available.

 

Yes, the wheelchair bound people will find it very inconvenient!

[Waiping 12]

Not trying to be biased against AK but I do believe MH is in a better position to help in cases like this. Put it this way, I have seen more such cases on MH than on AK.

[Radzi 2]

Totally wrong. JHB does have aerobridge, and MH do use them all the time. And the assist for wheelchair pax is as good as in KUL if not better.

 

For info the only places without aerobridge within MAS domestic network is LGK and KUA.

[flee 5]

Not trying to be biased against AK but I do believe MH is in a better position to help in cases like this. Put it this way, I have seen more such cases on MH than on AK.

Perhaps, but it will mean two flights instead of one. So maybe Firefly might be a better bet...

[Tim Lee 6]

Totally wrong. JHB does have aerobridge, and MH do use them all the time. And the assist for wheelchair pax is as good as in KUL if not better.

 

For info the only places without aerobridge within MAS domestic network is LGK and KUA.

 

 

Haven't flown to/from JHB for many years, I stand corrected.

[Isaac 0]

my question being...

1. what about the wheelchair? will they folded it and bring it onboard? or she have to be seated on the wheelchair the whole trip while the wheelchair been strapped to the floor?

MAS really excel in this aspect. As far as i am concerned, if one needs a wheelchair, usually we have to request for it 24 hours in advance but in my case my parents didn't. We didn't expect i would need a wheelchair then. Anyways, my parents asked for it in the very last minute and they quickly found me a wheelchair at the old BKI. And as soon as my plane touched down in KUL, a flight attendant came to tell us to wait other passengers to disembark first because a ground staff has prepared me a wheelchair and he will come to get me once everyone has disembarked. Now that was a HUGE SURPRISE, because we didn't expect they will prepare me a wheelchair at KLIA too because we didn't ask them to. Just in KKIA. It was very nice of MAS.

 

 

2. Will they be able to help her on & off the aircraft

In my case, yes they did. At both KKIA and KLIA.

 

 

I believe JHB does not have aerobridge facility so depending on the state of your Grandmother, MH will provide assistance up to the aircraft door either using an ambulift of manually.

JHB does have aerobridge. AK is not using it though.

 

 

If you are flying from JHB to PEN it is probably best to stick with MH to avoid any possible problems.

Agreed. Besides, MAS is using aerobrige there. Pretty sure they will take good care of your grandmother.

 

 

One question came to mind. How does people on wheelchair go to the loo when their wheelchairs are at the cargo compartment? Accessible toilets are provided for people on wheelchair as far as I know.

I was on a 734 from Cebu transit in BKI to KUL that day. There was no wheelchair onboard. My dad with a steward helped me to get up to go to the lavatory. As for other disabled passengers, they usually will get up from their seats with the help of their partner, friends or parents and they will walk to the lavatory using their crutches. That is what i have seen on a 772 last last year. It was a Dutch in his mid-20s. Apparently he broke his leg while hiking and since he is the only son to Mr. and Mrs. i-don't-know-their-surname. The parents had to fly all the way to BKI to bring him back to AMS. Poor guy ...

 

 

For long haul flights, it is likely that these disadvantaged people will have to journey down to the toilet as well at some stage...

For flight operated using MAS 772ER and 744 i believe that wouldn't be a problem. Not sure if MAS ready a wheelchair onboard but as far as i am concerned, all American carriers have at least one wheelchair onboard.

 

 

IIRC, Air Asia will ask if you have any special need when you book a flight with them. Wheelchair being one of them?

Yes. That is one of them. My advice is that you should avoid all LCC if you need a wheelchair. A full service carrier like MAS will take good care of you. While i am not very happy with MAS now, but i must admit that they are doing a great job in this.

Edited April 25, 2009 by Isaac

[Tim Lee 6]

My advice is that you should avoid all LCC if you need a wheelchair. A full service carrier like MAS will take good care of you. While i am not very happy with MAS now, but i must admit that they are doing a great job in this.

 

 

Totally agree that aerobridge is a must. Having witnessed how they "helped" a wheelchair bound pax up the stairs, I think the experience is uncomfortable and downright scary.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Tim Lee

[Jun Mishima 0]

@all reply

- thanks guys for the much needed input... very informative indeed.

- will try to digest all the info and will let you guys know what the outcome will be.

 

@isaac.

- Thanks for the first hand experience with this.

- i also heard a lot about MH experience in handling people with special need and most of them is a very good experience. But i havent heard anything yet from other carrier.

 

- as for the aerobridge, i'm not sure if Firefly in PEN used aerobridge? IIRC last time i need to walk to the stairs on to the tarmac to get to the plane... this could prove to be very challenging OKU person.

 

- i did a few checking on the ticket via www.airasia.com and found that they have a "Special Assistance" button below the booking page that goes something like this..

 

Do you have any special needs? Yes No

 

Please contact the call centre 48 hours before flight departure if you require assistance.

AirAsia can carry only a maximum of 8 guests per flight who have reduced mobility* provided that quadraplegic guests are limited to not more than 4 per flight. Under certain circumstances we may require the guest to travel with a companion.

 

* 'reduced mobility' refers to paraplegic or quadriplegic guests.

 

Failure to notify us of assistance needed will result in the service being unavailable upon your arrival at the airport and you being refused carriage. For health and safety reasons guests with specific requirements must check-in at the airport.

 

note the bold sentences, i really do hope they can provide some assistance to the person accompanying the OKU person. But they didnt say exactly how they wanted us to store or keep the wheelchair? i really hope that they would do it the same as what isaac describe above.

 

thanks for all the input guys... if anyone got anymore suggestion do add in here... it will be a few more days until i booked the flight ticket. and i guess i also need to be calling their Call Center to clarify this matter.

 

and AK now have a direct flight to JB from PEN which i think is a very good news indeed.

 

thanks in advance guys..

 

jun

[Isaac 0]

- as for the aerobridge, i'm not sure if Firefly in PEN used aerobridge? IIRC last time i need to walk to the stairs on to the tarmac to get to the plane... this could prove to be very challenging OKU person.

Firefly doesn't use aerobridge at any airport they fly to because i believe there is no suitable aerobridge in Malaysia for FY F50 and ATR-72. As far as i am concerned, only certain big airports in the USA that provide a special smaller aerobridge for turboprop aircraft.

 

[flee 5]

Sorry to bring up an old topic, but it might be interesting to update the situation for 2018. We now also have Batik/Malindo with us.

 

I think Firefly is now probably the worse airline for wheelchair bound pax as they don't use aerobridges and ambulifts.

 

Any updates on AK/MH/OD? What is their current SOP and does AK still charge extra for ambulift/wheelchairs?

[Mushrif A 3]

At LGK, MH has this machine (which looks like the remote tracked robotic vehicle that a bomb disposal squad would use) which attaches to a wheechair and is designed to be able to climb up the stairs.