Air Travel - Experiencing ADA 

Compliance First Hand

Greg Bilonick travels across the country in his power chair

What’s Greg doing in front of the world’s first Starbucks? The guy next to him is a huge fan. Unfortunately Russell didn’t get his fix. It was closed when they got there.

Greg Bilonick is the owner of Bilonick Advocacy and vice president of the Mountain State APSE Chapter. His work made it necessary for him to travel to Seattle, Washington to attend the 2011 National APSE Conference. As an advocate for disability rights Greg got a chance to experience ADA compliance first hand in connection with accessibility during his travels and stay in Seattle.

Greg’s power chair made the trip to the Pittsburgh International Airport from his home in Morgantown, WV without a hitch. Then the fun began.

Greg’s power chair wouldn’t fit through the metal detector. So, a TSA agent dabbed his chair with a cotton swab and put it in a scanner to detect trace amounts of explosive residue. Another agent wearing latex gloves also patted Greg down. The results were all negative. After running Greg’s shoes and carry-on through the x-ray he was on his way. Elapsed time . . .  about half an hour.

Getting out to the departure gate at Pittsburgh International Airport involves taking a ride on a tram. No problems with access. The platform and car doors were just the right height.

Delta Airline staff let Greg board the plane first. He rode is power chair out to the end of the jetway and then got into an aisle chair (see picture above). It just fits between the seats on the plane and allowed Greg to get down the aisle to his assigned seat. Meanwhile, airline staff transferred the power chair to the cargo hold of the plane for the trip west.

The process was repeated when changing planes in Minneapolis.

Greg’s first time flying was quite exciting, due to a very rough landing in Seattle. The stewardess yelled “Whoooo” over the intercom when the plane touched down.

On the way to the baggage claim area and then out to the platform for the downtown light- rail transit Greg confronted several escalators. It took a while to locate elevators.

Out at the light-rail terminal . . . another elevator to get up to the platform. After that it was smooth sailing. Wheel chair access to the Seattle light-rail system was very good, as you can see in these pictures.

At the downtown underground station Greg had to take three different elevators to get up to the street level. Would have been nice if just one elevator went up all three levels.

 Out on the street there were a lot of pedestrians and heavy traffic. Greg cruised about four blocks to the Sixth Avenue Inn. When asked how crossings in Seattle compared with Morgantown, WV where Greg lives he said: “Morgantown is good . . . but Seattle is even better.”

 

Access to the hotel was excellent. Greg rolled right into the lobby from a ground level entrance right next to the parking lot.

From the hotel, Greg could look down Sixth Avenue and see the Seattle Space Needle. He couldn’t resist the urge to check it out. Again, navigating the streets in a power chair was no problemo. Nine blocks later Greg was looking 60 stories straight up at The Needle. Access to the service elevator and the ride up to the top was terrific. Greg loved view through the glass windows.When the elevator opened all the way up at the top Greg was at the restaurant level. Access was great. But Greg's destination was the observation deck, one level higher. But the elevator didn't go up there. A few years ago there used to be a

stairway up to the observation deck, but that wasn't ADA compliant. The picture here shows a fellow in a wheelchair struggling with the help of some friends to get up there. When Greg arrived, he was pleased to find that they had installed a hydraulic lift.

But it wasn't designed to handle the weight of a power chair. So Greg had to transfer to a conventional wheelchair before the lift could finally take him to the observation deck. And what a view . . .