Paralympic champion backs plans to fine airlines which fail disabled travellers

Emma Lynch/BBC

A Paralympic champion has said plans to fine airlines that fail disabled travellers are a “significant opportunity” to improve flying experiences for wheelchair users.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, whose wheelchair was previously lost on a flight, told the House of Lords that “everything’s just a little bit too ad hoc” when disabled passengers try to seek help or compensation for damaged equipment.

The Bill, which was backed at its second reading, would introduce new rules on flights, lost luggage and price transparency.

Aviation Minister Keir Mather said it would “modernise” UK aviation and strengthen the Civil Aviation Authority’s enforcement powers.

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On Tuesday, Baroness Grey-Thompson described how her wheelchair was lost on a Geneva to Birmingham flight and later returned “several weeks” later via Dublin in “two pieces”.

The Welsh independent crossbencher said: “When it became clear my chair was not there, I was asked by a member of staff, had I ever tried to walk?

“Would I like to try to walk? No – can’t walk.

“The airline tried then to return two sleeping bags to me and argue with me that was my lost property, even though they were clearly tagged to a different airport and another name.”

When her wheelchair finally returned, she said: “It had literally been cut in half and it was suggested that I might like to try and duct tape it back together, which didn’t work.”

Baroness Grey-Thompson also recalled other incidents where the wheels of her racing chair were damaged, and an airline “immediately jumped to replacing them” with a more expensive set.

The gold medallist Paralympian said there needed to be better assessment of damage and clearer accountability.

She earlier described “a lack of data of when things go wrong – it’s hard to know who to contact, who to complain to, how to resolve issues and actually even who has responsibility”.

“This bill does present a significant opportunity to do something very different for disabled people,” Baroness Grey-Thompson added.

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However, Paralympic gold medallist Lord Christopher Holmes of Richmond urged clearer disabled passengers’ rights to be written directly into the bill rather than left to future rules.

The Conservative peer, a blind former swimmer, warned the draft lacked specific protections for disabled, older and younger travellers.

He said an “inclusive-by-design statutory duty” in law would “be a huge step forward” to improve protections for all passengers.

Labour peer Baroness Theresa Griffin of Princethorpe said she was once left in airport “holding pens” and given colouring pencils while travelling to Strasbourg.

She asked whether the bill would cover both airlines and airports, to which Lord Hendy, transport minister for the House of Lords, confirmed they would.

He said peers had “spoke passionately” about serious shortcomings in air travel for disabled passengers, and the government was acting because “actually it doesn’t accept that that’s inevitable”.

In an earlier statement, Mather said the new laws would modernise UK aviation and support the redesign of airspace for faster, more efficient flights, while “enhancing aviation safety standards and delivering greater passenger protections”.

“We’re proud of the strong, reliable experience our sector delivers day-in day-out for passengers and we are clear that no-one should be let down when they travel,” he added.

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