June 16, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias Air4All hopes to make flying with a wheelchair easier I’ve done quite a bit of flying, for business and pleasure, over the 42 years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS). It’s not easy traveling by air with my scooter, and I can’t imagine trying to fly with a 450-pound power wheelchair. Actually, I don’t have to imagine.
July 15, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias How to Avoid Trouble While Traveling Internationally With MS Medications The case of Women’s National Basketball Association star Brittney Griner is an important reminder for all of us who travel internationally with our medications: What you might be able to do in your home country, might not be the case in another. And the penalty could be severe. Griner was…
January 30, 2020 News by Mary Chapman Nonprofits RARE Courage, All Wheels Up Partner on Survey Seeking to Improve Air Travel for Wheelchair Users Kevin Schaefer hadnāt been in an airport since he was 4 years old, so he had been looking forward to flying from his home in Cary, North Carolina, to Anaheim, California, in June for the 2019 Cure SMA Conference. As it turned out, his experience didnāt go as expected.
January 8, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias US Airlines Are Now Tracking Wheelchairs They Break or Lose It’s happened to me, and if you fly with a scooter or a wheelchair, I bet it’s happened to you, too: a busted or missing set of wheels on arrival. On a flight from Washington, D.C., to Venice, my scooter went to Copenhagen. On a flight from…
March 26, 2018 News by Patricia Silva, PhD United Spinal Plans Webinar on Making Flying Better for Wheelchair Users The United Spinal AssociationĀ will hold a webinar this week to seek ideas for making air travel better for wheelchair users, including multiple sclerosis patients. One focus of the event will be the problems wheelchair users have encountered at airports. AnotherĀ will be bills in the U.S. House and Senate…
November 17, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Airport Tips for Holiday Flyers Thanksgiving is just a few days away, so I thought it would be a good time to repeat a few of my airline travel tips and add a few new ones. Get the wait-time app Needless to say, you need to get to the airport early on busy travel…
June 12, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD National MS Society Joins Other Groups Urging Reform of U.S. Law Protecting Disabled Airline Passengers The National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyĀ and a dozen other advocacy groups have banded together toĀ support theĀ Air Carrier Access Amendments Act of 2017, a bill seekingĀ to strengthen the rights of airline passengers and close service gaps often faced by patients with disabilities, including those with multiple sclerosis (MS).