[Nfbf-l] Canadian Transportation Agency ordered airline to change its guidelines requiring people who are blind and deaf to travel with an attendant

[Alan Dicey]

Transport agency reprimands Air Canada over 'paternalistic' disability 
policy
December 9, 2015 Geordon Omand, The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER - Canada's transportation watchdog has chided Air Canada for what 
it calls a discriminatory policy prohibiting people with certain 
disabilities from flying alone.
The Canadian Transportation Agency ordered the airline to officially change 
its guidelines requiring people who are blind and deaf to travel with an 
attendant.
The ruling came after a complaint filed by Carrie Moffatt, who learned of 
the policy when she booked a flight from Vancouver to Victoria in September 
2013.
Moffatt is legally blind and deaf but can read text and communicate orally 
by phone. She complained to the transportation agency after Air Canada 
refused to change its rules.
"When we first encountered this it seemed like it was just something that 
they'd overlooked, that somebody had just put in place years and years ago 
and had just forgotten about" said Amita Vulimiri, a lawyer with Community 
Legal Assistance Society who provided Moffatt with legal advice.
"But when we did point it out to them we had to litigate for pretty much a 
year before they agreed to change their policy."
Deaf-blind people are the only group with a disability that Air Canada 
defines as exclusively non-self-reliant, meaning they are required to have 
an attendant.
"A quadriplegic would not have been subject to this type of scrutiny by Air 
Canada," Vulimiri said. "It's only deaf-blind persons."
Instead of being able to fly alone, Moffatt would have had the 
responsibility of finding her own attendant to accompany her, her lawyer 
said.
On flights within Canada, the company provides an extra seat for free, but 
that is not the case for international flights, she said.
In its April interim decision, the transportation agency found that 
deaf-blind people have the right to travel independently and to decide for 
themselves whether they are capable of doing so.
The airline drafted a new policy after the agency ruled earlier this year in 
Moffatt's favour and gave Air Canada until Dec. 15 to formalize its policies 
and procedures and educate employees.
Moffatt said she was disappointed that the process with Air Canada took two 
years to resolve because the airline refused to change its policies that 
were clearly discriminatory.
"Deaf-blind people are capable of being independent and living full lives. 
Air Canada's policies and practices did not recognize this," Moffatt said in 
a statement. "The majority of deaf-blind people do not life in total silence 
or darkness."
At the time of the complaint Moffatt was an articling student and asked 
community legal assistance for help. Now she is a lawyer.
Air Canada has submitted an amended version of its disability policy to the 
transportation agency but the airline has yet to update the guidelines 
posted on its website.
Vulimiri said that to her knowledge Air Canada was the only airline in North 
America to have such a policy.
Air Canada said in a statement that the transportation agency found that the 
company's policies meet the needs of those who are partially deaf and blind, 
but that the written procedures needed to be updated to reflect the actual 
practice.
Spokeswoman Angela Mah said Air Canada will be adjusting its written 
procedures to be consistent with its practice, in compliance with the agency's 
ruling.
Vulimiri said the airline eventually allowed Moffatt to travel independently 
on the September flight, in violation of Air Canada polices and only after 
she was classified her as blind, but not deaf.
Air Canada removed a note from her file saying she had a hearing loss, 
meaning she was then unable to inform the flight crew of her impairment - 
information the crew needed, Vulimiri said.
With Best Regards,
God Bless,
Alan
Plantation, Florida