Air Canada Got Called Out For Breaking A Toronto Woman's Wheelchair & Things Got Heated
She said staff called it a "dangerous good."
Maayan Ziv in her video. Right: Toronto Pearson Airport.
Air Canada has been called out for damaging a Toronto woman's wheelchair and labelling it as a "dangerous good."
Maayan Ziv, a disability activist and founder of AccessNow, made several Instagram videos this month, in which she lambasts the airline and its staff for breaking her wheelchair and failing to adhere to Canada's Transportation Act.
In one of her posts, Ziv complained about allegedly encountering an argumentative flight attendant who refused to store her wheelchair in the cabin during a business trip to Austin, Texas.
According to Ziv, she felt "triggered" after the flight attendant labelled her wheelchair a "dangerous good" and refused to store it in the plane's closet.
Ziv explained in the clip that it's a law for mobility aids like hers to be considered a priority, before claiming that the closet was filled with the flight attendant's own suitcase and purse.
She also posted a follow-up video claiming that Air Canada had broken her wheelchair during a previous incident in September before once again blasting the airline's employees for not being informed of the law.
Ziv also added that her wheelchair is specifically designed to fit in the closet of an aircraft cabin, thanks to its "foldable power assist that can have all batteries and power removed," she said.
"They fought me, they did not want to store my wheelchair in the cabin, and they weren't informed on the laws that actually state that wheelchairs like this one actually take priority when travelling to and from the U.S.," she said.
Ziv's claims do appear to be supported by the Government of Canada's website, which states that "a carrier must, on the request of a person with a disability who needs a mobility aid during travel, accept the mobility aid for transport as priority baggage."
The regulations also require the removal of any cargo and other baggage from storage if it is necessary to make room for the storage of that mobility aid.
Narcity reached out to Air Canada for a comment on Ziv's remark, to which they responded with the following:
"You should be aware there was no damage to the wheelchair reported, and we have just now rechecked with our customer relations to confirm this is still the case."
"With respect to this Austin-Toronto flight, the U.S. regulations being cited requiring mobility aids be stored in the cabin apply only to manual wheelchairs and do not apply to aircraft of fewer than 100 seats. The customer's chair in this case is battery powered and we fly Toronto-Austin with a 76-seat Embraer aircraft," the statement adds.
The airline also said that its safety guidelines indicate that batteries that power mobility aids are considered dangerous goods, and powered wheelchairs are to be stored in the luggage compartment.
"While the customer may have been disappointed, her device was handled correctly and more importantly it travelled safely and was returned to her upon landing. We hope this clarifies the situation," it concluded.