Air Canada Rouge hit by disability rights activists after passenger with spinal muscular atrophy had to be carried down airstairs

Air Canada has been forced to apologize to a woman suffering from spinal muscular atrophy who had to be carried down a ‘broken’ aisle wheelchair by three struggling airport workers because no airlift was available.

Tori Lacey, 26, recently flew on Air Canada Rouge, the airline’s leisure-focused subsidiary, from Toronto to Costa Rica for a long-awaited vacation, but the trip got off to a bad start because of Air Canada’s handling of her disability.

Lacey says she contacted Air Canada months before the flight and informed the airline of her specific needs, including her inability to navigate airstairs.

“They knew well in advance that I needed help getting on and off the plane,” Lacey told CBC News. “I’m not sure how that communication went down, but it clearly did.”

Upon arriving in Costa Rica, Lacey said she saw that an airbridge gate was available, but the Air Canada Rouge plane ended up parking at a “remote stand,” forcing passengers to deplane via airstairs.

In these types of circumstances, airports normally have a special vehicle available known as an ‘ambulift’. This is a highlifter that resembles an airline catering truck that can safely board and disembark passengers with reduced mobility.

No such vehicle was available for Lacey, and instead three airport employees struggled to carry her down the airstairs in an aisle wheelchair, which had no straps to secure Lacey’s limbs or even armrests.

“It felt like an unsafe situation, not only for myself, but for the workers who were also put in that position to carry me off the plane,” Lacey said. “It didn’t seem like this was a protocol they had done before. They really didn’t know what to do in this situation.”

Last year, Air Canada was hit with a slew of fines totaling more than CA$260,000 for failing to account for disabled passengers in a series of incidents.

In one incident, the Canadian Transportation Agency fined the airline for failing to provide a wheelchair to a passenger suffering from spastic cerebral palsy, causing the passenger to drag himself off the plane.

Air Canada has embarked on a three-year plan to improve its treatment of disabled passengers after admitting it sometimes failed to meet its legal obligations.

Following this latest incident, Air Canada apparently suggested that it was normal for disabled passengers to be carried down an airstairs, saying in a statement: “We have procedures in place for customers with disabilities to safely board and disembark in such cases aircraft, and in this case, all protocols were followed.”

A statement from the airline continued: “However, as part of our accessibility plan we will be reviewing airport procedures, including for smaller overseas stations, with the aim of working with the local airport and other partners to find ways to provide a more consistent service offer. ”

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