POLICY CHANGE FOR AIR CANADA
Posted on 12/10/2015
The Canadian Transportation Agency has ordered Air Canada to officially change what it calls a discriminatory policy prohibiting deaf-blind people from travelling solo. Lawyer Carrie Moffatt booked a flight from Vancouver to Victoria in 2013 with her guide dog when she was informed she would have to fly with an attendant.
Moffatt is legally blind but can read text and communicate orally over a phone. She said she had taken dozens of flights with Air Canada before this incident and never had this problem. Eventually, she was able to convince the agent to allow her to fly without an attendant. "It took quite a bit of back and forth with the agent," Moffatt told the CBC. "She ended up removing the note on my file that said I had a hearing impairment. That was the only way I was able to fly alone."
Concerned with the discriminatory nature of the policy for people like herself who don’t require an attendant, she decided to file a complaint with the transportation agency. "I'm quite an independent person and I'm gainfully employed. I just didn't think this policy made any sense for people like me," she said. "I currently have hearing aids, so that's how I'm able to hear verbal speech. I'm obviously able to speak … In terms of the vision part, I have a guide dog so it's generally not too much of an issue."
Last month, the CTA ruled in favour of Moffatt. In the Nov. 16 decision, the CTA ordered Air Canada to amend its policy and inform staff about the changes surrounding deaf-blind passengers. These changes need to be made by Dec. 15. The airline drafted a new policy after the agency ruled in Moffatt's favour and says its policies are now compliant with the CTA's ruling. Further, the company says that deaf-blind passengers are currently not automatically required to fly with an attendant. Moffatt says the company's guidelines were based on the paternalistic idea that deaf-blind people can't be independent and it's unfortunate the policy change came only after more than a year of litigation.
