Air Canada has announced a series of measures to “reduce barriers and make travel simpler, more comfortable and consistently reliable for customers with disabilities.”
The news comes as AC executives were called to Ottawa yesterday to meet with the federal transport minister following high-profile incidents where travellers with disabilities did not receive adequate service for their needs.
"Air Canada recognizes the challenges customers with disabilities encounter when they fly and accepts its responsibility to provide convenient and consistent service so that flying with us becomes easier. Sometimes we do not meet this commitment, for which we offer a sincere apology,” said Michael Rousseau, AC President and Chief Executive Officer.
“As our customers with disabilities tell us, the most important thing is that we continuously improve in the future. We are listening to them and today we are committing to do better and demonstrating that commitment with concrete actions."
The actions being taken are designed to accelerate Air Canada's Accessibility Plan 2023-26, a three-year strategy released in June, and are intended to reduce or eliminate major sources of dissatisfaction and trip disruption for customers with disabilities, the airline says.
Air Canada's Michael Rousseau and Craig Landry. (Photo Credit: Courtoisie Air Canada)
"In June, we released our three-year accessibility plan. The measures we are announcing today accelerate key components in that plan. This includes improving boarding and seating, better customer communications, new processes to prevent delays or damage to mobility devices, more training and an investment in equipment such as lifts,” said Craig Landry, EVP and Chief Operations Officer at AirCanada.
Immediate Measures
Boarding: Customers at the gate who request lift assistance will be consistently boarded first before all other customers and proactively seated at the front of the cabin they booked. Air Canada says it is investing significantly in new equipment at Canadian airports, such as lifts, to ensure that we can meet the expectations of our customers.
Storage of mobility aids: Mobility aids will be stored in the aircraft cabin when possible. When mobility aids are stored in the cargo hold, new systems are being put in place to track them in transit, including a process to confirm mobility aids are properly loaded before departure.
Customers travelling within Canada will be able to track the journey of their mobility aid using the Air Canada app. In addition, the airline is adopting new processes to load mobility aids in the aircraft holds to ensure our customers' mobility aids arrive safely.
Training: Enhanced training will be supplied to improve all aspects of employee interactions with customers with disabilities, including understanding customer experiences in air travel. Air Canada's approximately 10,000 airport employees will receive this training as part of a new annual, recurrent training program. This will consist of both soft skill and equipment training, such as lifting techniques. Customers with disabilities will be invited to make presentations at employee workshops and provide advice on further process developments.
Responsibility: Air Canada has created the new senior position of Director, Customer Accessibility. She will lead a team to manage implementation of the company's accessibility plan as well as provide a resource and common reference point for responsive management of disability issues.
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