The February 2021 Air Journey Shopper Report launched right this moment accommodates information on the variety of wheelchairs transported and mishandled by airways throughout the 2020 calendar 12 months, the second full calendar 12 months for which now we have information on disabled airline passengers.
The chart above lists the entire variety of wheelchairs and scooters carried by every of the ten main U.S. airways and their branded codeshare companions from January 2020 via December 2020. Delta Air Traces carried the biggest variety of wheelchairs and scooters in 2020, with a complete of 69,947.
Collectively, the reporting carriers transported a complete of 268,676 wheelchairs and scooters throughout the 2020 calendar 12 months. This was a pointy lower of roughly 61% from the 2019 whole, when greater than 685,000 passengers traveled with their private wheelchair.
The reported information signifies that disabled individuals are nonetheless underrepresented amongst airline passengers. Full-time wheelchair customers account for greater than 1% of the U.S. inhabitants, however represented lower than 0.1% of the greater than 354 million passengers enplaned by reporting carriers final 12 months. This information suggests that there’s an infinite alternative for progress and, as airways develop into extra accessible, bigger numbers of disabled individuals will take to the skies.
With simply 354 million whole passenger enplanements (disabled and nondisabled individuals) in 2020, the airline business noticed roughly 60% fewer passengers on the 12 months. This information level means that disabled individuals decreased their journey throughout the coronavirus pandemic at a fee in line with that of nondisabled individuals and the business as a complete.
Within the coming months, as coronavirus vaccination applications broaden and disabled individuals resume their travels, airways, lodges and locations ought to pay shut consideration to the group — it’s certain to play an vital position within the journey business’s post-pandemic restoration.
