Jill Browne's Blog

Posted by Jill Browne

OK, here is where my own research skills either shine or fail! I need help with this one.

The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) said yesterday that the Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the earlier decision of the Canadian Transportation Agency on the matter of "one person, one fare".

This is a policy that would require the Canadian airlines Air Canada, Jazz and WestJet to allow persons who are severely disabled to be accompanied by an attendant on domestic Canadian flights at no additional cost. The policy also permits persons who are extremely obese to be accommodated in a way that has yet to be worked out.

I have written about the decision before in these pieces:

• One Person, One Fare Policy
• Obese Air Passengers Win
• Airlines and Disabled Passengers (has more links)

Here's my problem. The airlines have apparently asked for leave to appeal. The application for leave is referred to in a decision of the Federal Court Appeal, 2008 FCA 169.

CBC reported that the appeal had been dealt with and that the airlines had lost. The story was broadcast May 13, 2008 and is also on CBC's website. The external link CBC provides leads to a decision (again, decision 2008 FCA 169 of the Federal Court of Appeal). This decision is only about a procedural matter.

I have emailed the CBC and the Federal Court of Appeal requesting further information.

UPDATE: Found it!

It wasn't easy. The Court dismissed the airlines' application for leave to appeal, and did not issue a written decision. The record showing that the application for leave was dismissed is found on this page at item 38.

Yes, I am a nitpicker sometimes.

I thank the staff person at the Federal Court of Appeal who advised that the application had been dismissed by an Order without reasons.

Posted by Jill Browne

It used to be that if you were flying to Toronto, you pretty much had to fly to ... Toronto. Unless you had your own plane, of course.

Then WestJet started up. This Calgary-based airline, modelled after SouthWest Airlines in the USA, used the same strategy and began flying to underutilized regional airports. Now in addition to flying to Toronto, WestJet flies to Hamilton, London, Ottawa, and Kitchener-Waterloo, to name just a few of its Ontario destinations.

I find it so much nicer to land at the one-building kind of airport, and I enjoy walking across the tarmac, rather reminds me of Casablanca.

Posted by Jill Browne

I've just written an article about a recent decision of the Canadian Transportation Agency involving an accessible travel complaint. It's called Accessiblity Complaint Decision.

A couple of things came out in this decision, about the procedure in particular.

The complainant was not the disabled person. The Agency said that the disabled person herself should have made the claim. It wasn't fatal in this particular case, but if the stakes were higher, it could have shut the proceedings down.

The complainant wanted money and free flights because of the discomfort the airline had allegedly caused.

The Agency said it did not have the power to award those things.

Making a complaint to a regulatory agency can be fairly easy, especially as compared to going to court. Agencies often have staff who can help complainants work through the process.

However, most regulatory bodies exist to do very limited things in tightly prescribed situations.

Make sure the one you complain to can give you what you really want.

Posted by Jill Browne

Writing an article today about Calgary Pengrowth Saddledome as an accessible destination reminded me of the Bryan Adams concert I went to there for my birthday about two years ago.

Colin James opened - both his and Bryan Adams' shows were lots of fun, a great night. The only nit was the people in front of us. For half of every song, the woman got up and danced in the tiny space between her seat and the seat in front. Her boyfriend wasn't so keen on dancing, so we had a bit of a reprieve, but we still had a lot of our view of the stage blocked.

Anyway, the music was good so I didn't worry too much about the inconsiderate woman. (There was room to dance elsewhere and she could have gone there).

Driving home, we heard the DJ on our local rock station taking calls from concert goers.

DJ: "OK, so how was the night?"

Caller: "I had a great time but my section was DEAD. I was sitting in section 82 and I just want to say to those people sitting in section 82, man, you guys are DEAD. I was the only one dancing!"

I know what you're thinking, and the answer is... yes. Out of a crowd of 20,000 or so... amazing but true.

Posted by Jill Browne

Occasionally, I have written about handicapped parking passes. I did my homework and found the agreements that should let holders of passes from Canada or the U.S. use their passes in the European Union.

A reader wrote to say that the city authorities in Barcelona, Spain only accepted their own local passes, which were not available to non-residents.

My advice to him was to pursue this before going back to Spain, if he could, and to see if the U.S. Embassy in Spain might help. (He is an American). I suggested some other agencies to contact, including the official tourism agency of the Spanish government.

This sort of problem is most unfortunate, because it creates uncertainty for people who are travelling, and especially for people with disabilities who are travelling. When there is more than one set of rules in operation, the traveller has to try and guess which ones will be in place when he gets there.

I would encourage readers to check as many local information sources as they can, to try and find out how things will be on the ground. I read bulletin boards and reports from travellers from all over the world, and I suggest that readers also search out a few of these. They don't have to be for people with disabilities - any recent traveller or local resident could be a helpful source.

Surprisingly enough, I am finding Facebook to have a lot of groups interested in accessibility and travel. I am not recommending Facebook in particular, but suggesting that readers look around for websites where there are active discussion boards on travel topics. There are many out there, catering to different tastes.

Please share your own good or bad experiences in whatever way is easiest for you - there's always someone who will find it useful.