[nabs-l] Air Canada challenges deaf, blind man's right totravel alone; Burnaby

[Sarah Alawami]

I agree 100 percent . I'm not deaf blind but if that were ever to happen I
would want  to choose if I could do thing sby myself especially travel.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Serena
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 2:39 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Air Canada challenges deaf, blind man's right totravel
alone; Burnaby

I absolutely agree with you!  I have a friend who's deaf-blind.  Once he
gets older and is able to travel independently, I would never want him to be
denied the right to travel alone if he thinks he's able to do so!  Many
deaf-blind people do use assistants they call "SSPs" (support service
providers) to assist them when necessary and, if hearing, interpret for
them.  If the client in the case feels he doesn't need an SSP, he certainly
should be allowed to travel without one.

Serena


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sarah Alawami" <marrie12 at gmail.com>
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 3:12 PM
Subject: [nabs-l] Air Canada challenges deaf, blind man's right to travel
alone; Burnaby


> What do you all think of this? I think  personally that he has the  
> right to choose weather he can travel unassisted. The article is 
> below. If I already sent this, my apoligies for the duplicate.
>
>  Air Canada challenges deaf, blind man's right to travel alone; 
> Burnaby  athlete says he is capable
>
>  Janice Tibbetts
>  Vancouver Sun, Apr. 7, 2009
>
>  In a case that balances passenger safety and the rights of the 
> disabled,  Air  Canada is challenging a deaf and blind man's 
> contention that he should be  allowed to fly without an attendant.
>
>  The airline will argue in Federal Court that not allowing Burnaby 
> resident  Eddy Morten to fly alone is justified discrimination.
>
>  Morten counters that he has a system for safe air travel with his 
> service  dog, he has been self-sufficient all his life, and that he 
> has made many  past trips on planes, trains and buses.
>
>  "I have never needed a babysitter," Morten, a father of two and a  
> Paralympic  bronze medallist in judo, wrote in an e-mail.
>
>  "Air Canada routinely allows people who are blind, people who cannot 
> walk  and people who may be very disabled due to aging to travel
unattended.
> Why
>  not me?"
>
>  Air Canada is fighting Morten in court after losing a Canadian Human  
> Rights  Tribunal decision in January.
>
>  The tribunal did not order the airline to allow Morten to travel 
> alone,  but  said he had the right to be assessed for self-reliance 
> rather than  automatically ordered to bring an attendant.
>
>  The tribunal, ruling that Air Canada had not met its obligation to  
> accommodate Morten to the point of "undue hardship," ordered the 
> airline  to  pay Morten $10,000 in damages. Air Canada is not 
> contesting the award.
>
>  "It's the principle we're concerned about," said the airline's 
> spokesman  Peter Fitzpatrick. "It comes down to the safety of the 
> disabled passenger  and other passengers on the aircraft." Fitzpatrick 
> cited the recent rescue  of US Airways passengers in the Hudson River 
> as an example of a successful  and quick evacuation.
>
>  The dispute between Air Canada and Morten began five years ago, when 
> he  unsuccessfully tried to book a flight from Vancouver to San 
> Francisco  without being accompanied by an assistant.
>
>  He says he was "disempowered" by the rebuff and that he should not 
> have to  shoulder the cost of hiring an attendant. While Air Canada 
> policy has  recently changed to permit attendants to travel for free 
> domestically, the  concession does not apply to international travel.
>
>  The vice-president of the Alliance of Equality for Blind Canadians 
> said  Monday that financially strapped Air Canada should be spending 
> its limited  resources more wisely than on fighting a disabled man who 
> wants to travel  independently.
>
>  "There should be no blanket exclusions," said John Rae, who believes 
> that  a  person's declaration they are self-reliant should be enough. 
> Barring that,  each case should be individually assessed, particularly 
> since there are  varying degrees of impairment, he said.
>
>  Morten, who was born deaf but with good vision, has Usher's Syndrome, 
> a  condition that caused him to gradually lose his sight. Now in his 
> late  40s,  he is completely blind in his left eye and has severely 
> limited vision in  his right eye.
>
>  Morten testified before the tribunal that he knows airline safety  
> procedures  and would be able to find the emergency exits by following 
> the lights  along  the aisle. He also travels with pre-printed file 
> cards containing such  phrases as "I am deaf/blind, to talk to me, 
> please write on my palm in  large  block letters."
>
>  He also says that he could see an oxygen mask if it fell in front of 
> him,  and knows how to use a life vest if necessary.
>
>  The airline will also argue in court that the human rights tribunal  
> overstepped its jurisdiction when it ruled on the case.
>
>  Air Canada said the proper body to decide is the Canadian 
> Transportation  Agency, which ruled in 2005 that the airline was 
> justified in  discriminating  against Morten.
>
>
> Sarah Alawami
> msn: chellist at hotmail.com
> website: http://www.marrie.org
> twitter: http://twitter.com/marrie1
>
>
>
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