When Lyle and I travel by air, we always register me as being visually impaired or legally blind. We feel that this is a safety issue. If ever anything was to go amiss, we would want the cabin crew to be aware of my sight challenges and be able to offer whatever assistance was appropriate.
Now while I have registered as a passenger with vision loss ever since my initial sight challenges, airlines have not been quite so consistent in their recognition of my disability. Although there have been some amazing times where flight crew have been super helpful, there have been other times where help is almost non existent.
I always make sure that I am registered correctly at the beginning of the flight, but I wonder what happens to the note when I actually board the aircraft. When a second leg of a flight occurs, Lyle and I sometimes joke that I must be miraculously cured. The designation of being visually impaired mysteriously vanishes.
This month, Lyle and I will be flying again. I was quite surprised when this past week I had an email from Air Canada. The email outlined what accessibility services I could expect during my flight. For instance, if I was travelling alone, I could request curbside assistance right when I arrived at the terminal. I could expect that help would be there to guide me to my boarding gate and onto the plane to find my seat. I could expect that I would receive directions to the washrooms and exits and how to operate any knobs and dials relevant to the seat itself. If there was to be a meal, flight attendants would be happy to explain what was on the meal tray. As some airline food is almost unidentifiable even if a person can see, this latter assistance could prove very helpful. Most importantly, crew was required to give me personal directions about what to do in case of an emergency. Surprisingly, in my experience this safety briefing hasn’t always happened.
I am looking forward to our next flight and wondering if the flight crew and cabin attendants will adhere to the same accessibility list as was in my recent email from Air Canada. It would certainly make for a more positive travel experience for me.
