COMMENT
TRAVEL WITH DIGNITY
Dylan Alcott is an Australian Paralympian
with gold medals in wheelchair tennis and
wheelchair basketball. His recent triumph at
Wimbledon 2019 also earned him a career grand
slam. Andy Barrow is a retired wheelchair rugby
player who played for Great Britain across three
Paralympic Games and led the team to gold in the
three European Championships. Away from their
respective sports, both men serve as ambassadors
for OCS’s passengers with reduced mobility
(PRM) service, using their platform to raise
awareness and promote this crucial need for the
many thousands of people with disabilities who
regularly travel by air.
“As Paralympians, we have been fortunate enough
to represent our countries and win elite tournaments
at the very highest levels. These successes have also
given us the opportunity to travel across the globe
sharing our experiences on TV shows and in front of
live audiences.
Away from the courts, cameras, glitz and glamour,
however, we have to navigate the ‘real’ world – a
place that is o en not built or designed to support
our disabilities. For people that have reduced
mobility, everyday activities and events that most
take for granted can be a source of great frustration
and anxiety. Nevertheless, we understand that our
status as athletes has put us in a position of great
privilege, and we have a responsibility to give voice
to the millions of people with disabilities like ours
who do not share our platform.
That’s why we have chosen to be ambassadors for
OCS’s PRM service. Despite the challenges it presents,
PRM passengers represent one of the fastest-growing
demographics in aviation travel. While the annual
passenger growth for European airports sits at about
three per cent, the number of flyers with reduced
14 OCTOBER 2019
mobility is increasing at an annual rate of 10-15 per
cent.
That demand is putting extra pressure on airports,
airlines and PRM companies to provide passengers
with disabilities the service that they need. The
Civil Aviation Authority states that any person with
reduced mobility is entitled to assistance when
travelling by air. But this must be the bare minimum.
People with mobility needs deserve to travel with
dignity and should expect the same high-quality
service that everyone else receives.
As frequent flyers, we are starting to see positive
change. Service providers like OCS have identified
ways to make the experience for PRM passengers
easier and safer – and their methods are being rolled
out in forward-thinking airports all over the world.
Three decades ago, a PRM service was no more than
a handful of sta , a walkie-talkie and a wheelchair.
Today, on the other hand, processes, equipment
and new technologies are transforming the airport
journey, from the entrance, through security, and
onto the plane. New so ware combines flight
information with special service request bookings
so that people with reduced mobility can get exactly
what they need, when they need it.
But great PRM service isn’t simply about applying
the right tools or following the correct guidelines in
the manual. As with so many other services in life,
PRM excels when sta treat their passengers with
warmth, humility and respect. We have spent a huge
part of our sporting lives shattering stereotypes
about what people with disabilities can achieve. In
buildings like airports, however, we o en still face
the so bigotry of low expectations.
People with disabilities are not one-dimensional
beings. Each person has unique needs, their own
preferences and a di erent set of values. What might
work for one passenger, however, may upset or
o end another. The solution is to treat every PRM
passenger as a human and as an individual.
As OCS ambassadors, we can see how much time
and care the organisation’s teams put into providing
a ‘human experience’. Some of our best trips have
come when those sta do something as simple as
introduce themselves. In the end, people will only
overcome their unconscious biases if they listen and
open themselves up to lived experience of others.
These lessons also apply to the multiple
stakeholders involved in a person’s journey, from
booking the ticket to boarding the plane. PRM
passengers need the process to be as fluid as
possible. O en, we find ourselves repeating the same
requests and encountering the similar issues because
the di erent groups that make up the journey do not
communicate with each other.
Our role as OCS ambassadors allows us to speak
for people who do not have our knowledge or
experience. This represents crucial progress because
PRM services will only improve when more people
like us have a seat at the table, making decisions
and advising the aviation industry on the best path
forward.
Travel is a human right and every passenger should
be able to experience it with dignity.”
Andy Barrow and Dylan Alcott refl ect on the PRM services they have experienced
and suggest ways to elevate the standard of PRM provision across the globe
PRM SUPPORT IS PROVIDED TO:
Wheelchair users
Visual impairment / blind passengers
Hearing impairment / deaf passengers
Hidden disabilities
Customer Care Agents are alo specifically trained
and coached to recognise and support those
with ‘hidden disabilities’ including:
Dementia Autism/Aspergers
Mental health Stomas
Visual, sensory and hearing impairments
All of the frontline sta now receive Dementia
Friends Training, and hidden disability
awareness has been built into all of its
induction and refresher training.
For the future OCS is continually developing its
service to:
Improve the passenger experience
Enable more passengers with disabilities to
use air travel
Ensure on-time performance (OTP) for airlines
For more information visit: www.ocs.com/uk/
services/passenger-assistance-and-aviationsupport/
passenger-assistance/
ADVICE & OPINION
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