Disabled TV Presenter Sophie Morgan Launches Rights On Flights Campaign

Disabled TV presenter and activist Sophie Morgan has launched a new campaign – Rights On Flights – where she will be lobbying the government to implement several imperative legislative changes within the aviation industry in the UK for disabled passengers.

Following Sophie’s launch a few weeks later, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has begun a consultation calling for views on plans to improve airline accessibility.

Sophie Morgan’s challenges of air travel

Sophie Morgan became a wheelchair user in 2003 after suffering a T6 spinal cord injury following a road traffic accident.

Following two recent events that saw her being left on an empty plane for hours and her wheelchair being returned from the hold broken, Sophie is starting by calling for legislation to empower the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to impose fines on airlines and/or other actors who:

1. Damage wheelchairs or essential mobility devices
2. Leave Disabled passengers on flights for a prolonged period once the flight has landed
3. Fail to provide adequate assistance despite prior knowledge of Disabled passenger’s needs

On Thursday 30th March, Sophie and other disabled activists attended Downing Street to deliver a petition to Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, which, at that point, had been signed by over 100 cross-party MPs.

Yesterday I dropped off my cross party letter with the signatures of 125 Parliamentarians to 10 Downing Street as part of our #RightsOnFlights campaign alongside @sophmorgTV and @DisRightsUK

This campaign is the first step in the battle for equality for disabled air travellers. pic.twitter.com/6q1T5g7Pkc

— Marion Fellows MP (@marionfellows) March 31, 2023

The Rights On Flights letter

In the letter to the Prime Minister from Marion Fellows MP, it said:

“The CAA’s current regime of oversight for accessible air travel is limited and ineffective in holding airlines and/or other actors to account when such issues arise, charters and codes of conduct would not work. Whilst the Disabled community have a real and immediate need for aircraft to be redesigned, the industry sees this as more of a long-term strategy. In the meantime, the empowerment of the CAA to impose fines is a tangible short-term goal to combat the persistent failures of airlines and other actors in the aviation industry. We understand that last year’s Aviation Consumer Policy Reform consultation has considered granting additional powers to the CAA, including fines, however, the disabled community cannot wait any longer as we have reached a crisis point.

Over the past year, the issue has been in the spotlight in the media with high-profile cases, such as those of Sophie Morgan, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Frank Gardner, where Disabled passengers have had their mobility devices damaged, or been left stranded on an aircraft. These publicised cases merely constitute the tip of the iceberg, and these issues are endemic within the aviation industry, with disabled passengers regularly suffering degrading substandard treatment at the hands of airlines or other actors.

Such instances have a huge human impact on the dignity of Disabled passengers and severely impact their confidence when travelling by air, meaning that many passengers with assistance needs will, in many cases, avoid travelling on airlines altogether.”

You can read the full letter on the Disability Rights UK website.

Sophie Morgan’s thoughts on her Rights On Flights campaign

Sophie Morgan is best known for her role as one of the lead presenters of the Paralympic Games on Channel 4 for nearly a decade.

In addition to sports broadcasting, she fronts her own travel series Living Wild, consumer and current affairs documentaries including on Dispatches and Unreported World and is a well-known television personality on shows like ITV’s Loose Women.

Sophie is also an ambassador for Leonard Cheshire’s international work. In November 2019, she travelled to Kenya to find out more about Leonard Cheshire’s projects, which included her visiting the local office of the Association for Disabled People of Kenya (ADPK).

Therefore being a TV presenter and ambassador where many filming opportunities and visits are abroad, means Sophie has to travel a lot by plane.

Following her visit to No.10 Downing Street, which she discovered had limited disabled access too, Sophie said:

“I am pleased to be at Downing Street to deliver the RightsOnFlights Open Letter to the Prime Minister today, but I wish I didn’t have to be. My wheelchair, which is essentially my legs, my independence and my lifeline, was broken by an Airline and I, like so many other Disabled travellers, have had enough.

Throughout the campaign, thousands of people have contacted me to share their own traumatic experiences on flights – equipment being broken, no toilet access, lack of accessible safety materials, inadequate assistance, adults dragging themselves around airports, or down aircraft aisles, children being left, like discarded rubbish, on the aircraft for hours. Worse still are the countless numbers of people who are now avoiding flying as or those who, due to the inaccessible design of the aircraft, aren’t able to fly at all.

This has been happening for decades. It really is unbelievable that we are having to fight for our basic human rights in 2023. The systems that are currently in place are clearly not fit for purpose.

We are in a crisis and we need our Government to support and protect us by granting the Civil Aviation Authority the power to impose fines when Airlines (and other parties) fail us. Other countries have these in place, so why don’t we?

And this is just the start. We will not stop here. Next, we will be calling on the Department of Transport to draft new and improved assisted travel legislation. The time is NOW and this visit to No.10 today is one step on the long but necessary journey towards systemic change.

So, it’s a shame Rishi didn’t invite me in for a chat this time, but this won’t be the last time he hears from us!”

Today, we delivered Marion Fellow’s Open Letter asking for improved #RightsOnFlights for Disabled people, to No. 10.

Turns out, we might also need to ask for improved ACCESS for disabled people INTO No. 10…..😂.

I think even Larry the Cat got the irony!! pic.twitter.com/aUPscitqFn

— sophie morgan (@sophmorgTV) March 30, 2023

How you can support the Rights On Flights campaign

There are ways you, your friends, family and communities can support the Rights On Flights campaign.

Whether it’s assistance not being properly provided, being left alone on aircraft long after landing, or having essential mobility equipment damaged or broken, each disabled traveller has their own story to tell.

Disability Rights UK is encouraging disabled people and their allies to join them by writing to your MPs to ask them to support Sophie’s campaign.

You can find the contact details for your MP at Contact Your MP.

You can also support the campaign by sharing on social media with the hashtag #RightsOnFlights

The UK CAA calls for views on plans to improve airline accessibility

In separate news announced on the 25th April, the UK Civil Aviation Authority is calling for views on a proposed framework to improve airline experiences for disabled and less mobile passengers.

The regulator’s framework would rank the performance of airlines based on their service for disabled and less mobile passengers, from booking flight tickets and assistance at the airport, through to their onboard experience and complaints handling.

Ratings would include consideration of access around requesting assistance, onboard facilities including seating and toilets, as well as boarding and disembarking.

The framework also sets standards for bringing assistance dogs onto flights, along with providing guidance on how airlines should handle mobility equipment and providing compensation when it is lost or damaged.

In developing the proposals, the regulator has significantly engaged with disabled people, as well as major airlines.

Anna Bowles, Head of Consumer at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said:

“Our proposals to introduce this new framework are about holding airlines to account in meeting their obligations to disabled and less mobile passengers across all aspects of their journey.

Consumers should have confidence that the standard of support they receive when flying will meet their needs. Assessing airlines against a standardised framework will ensure that disabled and less mobile passengers will be better informed when they choose which airline to fly with, and will highlight areas where airlines need to do better.

To make the framework as effective as possible, we’re asking for feedback from individuals, disability rights groups and the industry to help shape our plans.”

Josh Wintersgill, Founder and Director of ableMove, said:

“This consultation is a great opportunity for people to share their constructive feedback to help influence and shape the framework further. A tremendous amount of work has gone into it thus far, and the framework is very much welcomed.

Whilst only guidance, it is hoped it would enable the UK Civil Aviation Authority to better monitor airline performance and hold airlines to greater public accountability just like UK airports are today, which has shown improvements, but perhaps not at the pace which people expect.”

A consultation that launched on 25th April is now seeking further feedback from disability rights groups, individuals and the aviation industry, particularly around what best practice looks like.

The initiative would carry out assessments on all UK and non-UK airlines that operate to the UK, with the outcome of these assessments being made public.

It follows the introduction of a similar framework for airports in 2014, which has driven airports to spend millions of pounds improving experiences for passengers with reduced mobility.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has also helped deliver other significant improvements for passengers over the last decade in its access to air work, including developing guidance for UK airports on helping people with non-visible disabilities such as autism, dementia and hearing loss as well as many other conditions that are not immediately obvious.

The consultation is running until 21st July 2023.

Have you had bad experiences on flights as a disabled passenger? Has this put you off from travelling by plane in the future? Share your stories in the comment box or on social media.