Flying In Your Wheelchair?

Maybe it won’t be a fantasy in the future.

Can you imagine not having to go through the anxiety of checking your wheelchair and hoping the baggage handlers treat it gently? Won’t it be great when you don’t have to be pushed on one of those silly uncomfortable transfer chairs down the aisle? No more hauling you across armrests and dropping you into a seat that’s the wrong shape with a back at the wrong angle. 

On May 31, 2023, Delta Flight Products announced that, in partnership with Air4All, it was developing a prototype of a special airplane seat that would allow those of us who use power wheelchairs to stay in our chairs during a plane flight. The new design will have to be manufactured, tested, and then certified to be safe before we will see them on a plane.

How it will work is that a regular passenger seat is covered into a tie-down space in less than 2 minutes. Then the electric chair moves into place and is secured with straps as it is in vans and buses. Watch the demo videos here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkBQ7kaS8Bc&t=89s

and here: 

https://air4all.net/

This will be much more comfortable and more dignified than how those of us in power chairs have had to travel in the past. Can’t wait to try it out!