Air Canada is implementing a series of measures to reduce barriers and make travel easier, more comfortable and more reliable for customers with disabilities.

“Air Canada recognizes the challenges customers with disabilities face when traveling and accepts its responsibility to provide comfortable and consistent service to make flying with us easier. Sometimes we do not respect this commitment, for which we sincerely apologize. As our disabled customers tell us, the most important thing is that we continually improve in the future. “We listen to you and today we commit to doing better and we demonstrate this commitment through concrete actions,” said Michael RousseauPresident and CEO of Air Canada.

“In June, we published our three-year accessibility plan. The measures we announced today accelerate key elements of this plan. This includes improved boarding and seating, better communications with customers, new processes to avoid delays or damage to mobility devices, more training and investment in equipment such as elevators. “We also intend to implement new measures as part of our efforts to make Air Canada accessible to people with disabilities.”said Craig Landry, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Air Canada.
Air Canada is taking action to make travel easier and more comfortable for customers with disabilities. This will involve working with the airline’s regional partners to ensure consistency. The following measures, which are fully aligned with the airline’s new three-year accessibility plan, are now being implemented to come into effect and produce benefits more immediately. Initiatives include:

Immediate measures

Shipping: Customers at the gate requesting elevator assistance will consistently be boarded first before all other customers and proactively seated at the front of their reserved cabin. Air Canada is investing significantly in new equipment at Canadian airports, such as elevators, to ensure it can meet customer expectations.

Mobility aid storage: Mobility aids will be stored in the aircraft cabin wherever possible. Once stored in the warehouse, new systems will be put in place to track them during transport, including a process to confirm they have been loaded correctly before departure. Customers traveling within Canada will be able to track the journey of their mobility aid via the Air Canada app. Additionally, the airline is adopting new processes for loading mobility aids into aircraft cargo holds to ensure our customers’ mobility aids arrive safely.

Training: Enhanced training will be provided to improve all aspects of employee interactions with customers with disabilities, including understanding customers’ experiences with air travel. Air Canada’s approximately 10,000 airport employees will receive this training as part of a new annual and recurring training program. This will include training in soft skills and equipment, such as lifting techniques. Customers with disabilities will be invited to make presentations at employee workshops and provide advice on future process developments.

Responsibility: Air Canada has created the new leadership position of Director of Customer Accessibility. You will lead a team responsible for managing the implementation of the company’s accessibility plan, as well as providing a resource and common reference point for responsive management of disability issues.

Evolving expectations
Due to technological advancements and customer needs, there has been a welcome and continued increase in travel demand from people with disabilities. At the same time, society’s expectations are also changing.
Businesses must constantly review and improve their accessibility capabilities to keep them in step with current advancements. Air Canada is aware of this. In June, the airline finalized a three-year plan to increase accessibility for customers and employees, called the Air Canada Accessibility Plan 2023-26. He also fully supports the Government of Canada’s Accessible Canada Act and its goal of achieving a barrier-free Canada by 2040.