I was three months old when I took my first plane ride. I may not remember that trip but  

 many of the almost two hundred since are etched into my memory. When you hear this, most people would think “Wow, this guy travels A LOT” and leave it at that. The thing a lot of people   do not realize is the challenge it is for me to do this. I got my first power wheelchair when I was  four years old. Starting about a year later, my parents and I started taking the wheelchair with us when we went on vacation. What gave me freedom in my everyday life became a barrier when I was flying. Airlines do not allow me to stay in my wheelchair when I fly. They say it is not safe and that it costs too much money to allow me to do this and it may be true but ultimately it is taking away my freedom to move for myself.

It is a whole process to get on the plane when using your own wheelchair. Thankfully I am usually the first person “loaded” on the plane so I do not get trampled and tons of people do not have to see what I go through just to get to my seat. The first step is to get some airport workers handlers who will transfer me into an aisle chair. Don’t know what an aisle chair is? It's a skinny little seat on wheels that barely fits down the aisle of a plane. The airport workers then have to figure out the strap system to make sure I’m secure during my bumpy ride down the aisle. Once the straps are in place, one of the workers is at my feet to make sure they do not drag on the ground. The other worker walks backwards while pulling the chair. Watch out for the gap to get onto the plane! Down the aisle I go banging my knees on every seat. Fun times. We finally get to my seat and the workers undo my straps and lift me into my seat. At last, I’m seated! It only took about ten minutes. Now I have to wait for everyone else to get on the plane before we can take off. Imagine if I could just stay in my wheelchair, drive myself on the plane with no banging of my knees, no feeling like I could fall off the tiny seat, and not feeling like I am different from everyone else? I would still be the first person on the plane but I could get on by myself in way less than ten minutes and I would still have my dignity.

I’m sitting in my seat, I can relax and enjoy the flight. No worries, right? WRONG! Now comes the real worry. I’ve left my autonomy and last shred of dignity at the end of the jetbridge for the baggage handlers to take care of. These workers, through no fault of their own, have not been properly trained on how to handle a power wheelchair like mine. I hope and pray that they will be gentle with my wheelchair which costs as much as some luxury cars. There have been times when I’ve gazed out my window and seen them handling my wheelchair in a way that I know some piece of it will be bent or broken when I get to my destination. They just do not know that some of the parts attached to my wheelchair are fragile but cannot be easily removed to protect them. If only I could stay in my wheelchair when flying instead of being transferred.

The flight takes off and we reach our destination. Since I am seated at the front of the plane, I would love to be one of the first people off the plane. That would be amazing, I could start my vacation sooner or I could get home faster. Unfortunately, I need to wait some more. What’s another thirty to ninety minutes at this point? As I wait for all the other passengers to get off the plane, while staring at me as they pass wondering why I’m not leaving, I keep worrying about the state of my wheelchair. The plane is empty and I wait some more. I make awkward small talk with the flight attendants and the pilots since we are the only ones left on the plane. They are friendly but they just want to move along too. Finally, my wheelchair comes up from the belly of the plane onto the jetbridge. I get excited and so do the flight attendants. Hopefully, the airport workers are waiting to help me off the plane. Sometimes there are, and sometimes they need to be called down to help. We go through the whole process again of transferring me to the aisle chair and then into my regular power wheelchair. Good News! This time, my wheelchair came up from under the plane the way that it went down there, so I will not have to file a claim with the airline. More time wasted when I just want to start my vacation!  Imagine if I was in my chair the whole time, one of the first ones off the plane, and was already waiting patiently in baggage claim for my suitcase? Wouldn’t that be something?

There are people out there who think the current way people in wheelchairs are treated is ok. Hey, we got to our destination in mostly one piece, what more could we ask for? The airlines say that the cost of retrofitting any aircraft to have wheelchair-accessible seats and widening the doorway is cost prohibitive. In some of the wheelchair travel blogs I follow, one of the most common complaints I see in the comments after the cost of travel, is the paranoia of “what happens if my chair is damaged on the flight”? How will I get around? In their minds, it’s better to play it safe and either drive to a destination or not travel at all. If they could stay in their wheelchairs the entire flight, their chairs would not be damaged by the airlines. Another common argument is the loss of revenue to the airlines if no one in these are on the flight. Those seats would remain empty during the flight. We all know that airlines just want to pack as many people on a flight as possible like sardines, so having those two seats empty during any given flight would practically bankrupt them (insert sarcasm and eye roll). I think that if accessible seats were available on the plane, I think there would be more wheelchair users taking up those spaces. It probably would not be as big of a loss in revenue as the airlines think. The airlines also like to say that the passengers are safer in the regular plane seats than in their wheelchairs. Wheelchairs are safe to stay in while riding in a car, why would they not be safe while flying as long as the wheelchair is strapped down properly? To be honest, since a wheelchair is customized for the exact needs of the user, the person is probably safer in their wheelchair than in an airplane seat. For example, if a wheelchair user has muscle control issues, they may not be able to hold their head up properly without support. These supports are built into their wheelchair but not into their airplane seat. Instead, the person is forced to try and make do with something less than optimal for their situation.

To make air travel more accessible for EVERYONE, having one or two wheelchair seats on the plane would help anyone wanting to fly feel comfortable. I know it would cost the airlines a lot of money to retrofit their planes but I think that more wheelchair users would want to fly if this were an option. The airlines would open up a new, untapped market of customers. As for me, I will not let this limitation hinder my love of travel. I will continue to travel and show others that being in a wheelchair does not mean you can’t see the world.