Air Canada faces a big penalty for failing to assist a disabled passenger disembark its aircraft, reportedly forcing the man who can't move his legs to drag himself off the plane.
Rodney Hodgins, 49, a hardware salesman from British Columbia who requires the use of a motorized wheelchair, flew to Las Vegas with his wife, Deanna, to celebrate their anniversary in August.
The Aviation regulator confirmed that the fine is related to an incident that occurred on Aug. 30, 2023, when Hodgins said there would be no help to get him to the plane's exit, in Contraventions related to subsections 35(f), 35(h) and 37(b) of the ATPDR.
Press Release of the Canadian Transportation Agency read,
On August 30, 2023, Air Canada failed to assist a wheelchair user to disembark its aircraft. The passenger, who has spastic cerebral palsy and is unable to move his legs, was forced to disembark the aircraft on his own.
In addition, while the passenger was waiting in the terminal, Air Canada failed to ensure that their personnel periodically inquired about his needs.
Dated December 21, 2023, The Canadian Transportation Agency made an announcement that it has issued a $97,500 penalty to the airline for violating the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations in multiple ways, specifically related to its obligation to provide certain services to travelers with disabilities.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has issued an administrative monetary penalty of $97,500 against Air Canada for several violations of the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR) related to its obligations around providing services to a person with a disability.
Hodgins, who has spastic cerebral palsy and can't use his legs, said that only one staff member came to assist him upon landing from Vancouver to Las Vegas—a celebration trip he planned for his first wedding anniversary with his wife—despite him telling the crew he needed multiple people to help maneuver him into the narrow aisle chair.
The couple said that the flight attendant asked them if they could get to the front of the plane and disembark.
“I said, ‘Of course I can’t. I’m in a wheelchair. I can’t walk'”, he told Canadian media outlets.
But in the end, Mr Hodgins was forced to use his upper body strength and drag him past 12 rows of seats, while his wife held his legs.
“He (flight attendant) said it to me a second time, so that’s when I got up and I told my wife, ‘Move my legs,’ and I dragged myself to the front of the plane,” he told the media.
His wife described the devastating incident in a Facebook post saying that while both of them hurt their back and legs, it hurt a lot more emotionally.
“It took us struggling, in front of a dozen people as some looked away and others looked on with shame, to get him off that plane. He hurt his legs and I hurt my back – emotionally a lot more was hurt,” Deanna Hodgins wrote.
He says he was forced to support himself with his arms on either side of the aisle while his wife was on the floor moving his legs for 12 rows until he could reach his power chair, which had been waiting at the aircraft door the whole time.
In the month of November, Air Canada acknowledged a violation of the company's disability regulations, saying that the services of a third-party wheelchair assistance specialist in Las Vegas failed to provide the needed service. It's since said it would find a new partner and hire someone to oversee mobility policies.
For the damage control and obvious reasons of a good image in the industry, the carrier offered Hodgins and his wife $2,000 in flight credits then, but the pair wanted them to change their policies, not just compensate them.
With the Canadian Transportation Agency's penalty, Air Canada has 30 days to request a review before the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada.
Earlier, Air Canada said that they have apologized to Mr Hodgins and also offered him compensation for the inadequate assistance he received at the Las Vegas airport.
“We use the services of a third-party wheelchair assistance specialist in Las Vegas to provide safe transport on and off aircraft. Following our investigation into how this serious service lapse occurred, we will be evaluating other mobility assistance service partners in Las Vegas,” the statement read.
