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Air travel

Hugers

Hi all

(My first post, so I'm a bit nervous!)

I am 60 years old and only diagnosed with Asperger's a few months ago. I'm still coming to terms with the diagnosis, but I thought it might be interesting to share my experience with preparations for air travel over the past 24 hours. 

I fly quite frequently as part of my job. Next week I am due to fly to Germany and back with Eurowings. 

Like many others here, I imagine, I find airports extremely difficult. As well as Asperger's, I have Ménière's and sometimes the stress aspects of the autism can trigger a vertigo attack. Plus, thanks to the Ménière's, I have severe hearing loss and tinnitus.

Yesterday I found out about the Sunflower lanyard scheme to support hidden disabilities, which seems great. I contacted someone involved with that scheme and will be getting support at Stansted https://www.stanstedairport.com/help/special-assistance/hidden-disabilities/ It will be very interesting to see how well that works!

They also advised me to contact the airline (Eurowings, on this occasion), and it is this part that I wanted to share...

I filled in the Eurowings online support form and got a message saying it would take 6-8 weeks for them to reply! So I phoned their helpline instead to ask for assistance. Once I said what I wanted, the gentleman on the other end spent some time consulting with his manager before talking further to me.

He first asked me to produce a certificate to prove I have autism. I said I do have a psychologist's case report, but I was not very willing to share it.

He then offered to provide a wheelchair, which I told him I do not need.

He then asked me to explain in detail what are my problems. I did the best I could - it's not easy! He seemed quite baffled.

He then said he could not provide someone to accompany me on the flight. I explained (I hope politely) that I do not want a person to accompany me - what I want is a fast transit, understanding staff, and access to a quiet place where I can be undisturbed.

He finally said he could not help me at all, and that was the end of the conversation.

To be fair, Eurowings is an airline, not an airport, so it's possible that they have less interest until you actually get on the plane. But even so, I was quite shocked by the lack of understanding of hidden conditions. Apparently UK airlines perform better on this. Anyway, I have sent an email (again, polite) explaining my experience and suggesting ways they might improve. I don't expect much response, but every little helps!

Parents

  • Hi all. So...I made it! The Stansted experience was excellent. The Hannover experience, not so good.

    In both cases, I had to fight against myself, with my inner voice saying "why are you doing this?" and "why can't you just go through an airport without assistance?" I had to remind myself of what happened when I went to Norway in January (shutdown plus vertigo attack), or Brussels in September (panic attack plus stress-out leading to nightmare evening on arrival). So, I accepted the assistance and then learned how valuable it was, as I was helped through all the nasty stuff and consequently arrived at my destination in a reasonably calm state.

    At Stansted, I arrived nearly four hours before the flight, and waited the first couple of hours in the assistance area, which was fine. I had written down what I needed (thanks Plastic), which really helped them to understand. A very nice man named Farouk took me through Security. It was great! He looked after the boarding pass, told me where to stand and what to do, and made sure I didn't get rushed. He even thought to give me enough time to get something to eat and showed me where to go. When I went through the scanner, the woman actually signed to me in BSL, which was also great. I was escorted to the lounge, then left alone. Bliss. Then I was boarded with a minimum of fuss.

    The return journey was less impressive, but they did try to help. Hannover is a very small airport. There was no assistance area, so I queued at check-in and then had to explain what I needed to the clerk. She kept trying to give me a wheelchair. Eventually someone came and escorted me to the Security area, then told me to sit and wait. I waited a long time, and it got close to flight departure time, so I began to worry and left my seat to find some advice. Eventually, someone was persuaded to phone the assistance people who turned up, once again, with a wheelchair. They took some persuading that I did not need it. We then queued to go through Security - no special treatment this time. But they did carry my boarding pass. The young man quizzed me. When I said "Asperger's" he seemed to get it. The Security area led straight into the perfume section of duty free! Even my personal ioniser was not strong enough, so I just held my nose and ran. I got on the plane ok. Well, all in all, it was not a disaster, but not ideal either.

    So...onwards and upwards. I'll try to be even more specific and organised next time.

    Hugers

Reply

  • Hi all. So...I made it! The Stansted experience was excellent. The Hannover experience, not so good.

    In both cases, I had to fight against myself, with my inner voice saying "why are you doing this?" and "why can't you just go through an airport without assistance?" I had to remind myself of what happened when I went to Norway in January (shutdown plus vertigo attack), or Brussels in September (panic attack plus stress-out leading to nightmare evening on arrival). So, I accepted the assistance and then learned how valuable it was, as I was helped through all the nasty stuff and consequently arrived at my destination in a reasonably calm state.

    At Stansted, I arrived nearly four hours before the flight, and waited the first couple of hours in the assistance area, which was fine. I had written down what I needed (thanks Plastic), which really helped them to understand. A very nice man named Farouk took me through Security. It was great! He looked after the boarding pass, told me where to stand and what to do, and made sure I didn't get rushed. He even thought to give me enough time to get something to eat and showed me where to go. When I went through the scanner, the woman actually signed to me in BSL, which was also great. I was escorted to the lounge, then left alone. Bliss. Then I was boarded with a minimum of fuss.

    The return journey was less impressive, but they did try to help. Hannover is a very small airport. There was no assistance area, so I queued at check-in and then had to explain what I needed to the clerk. She kept trying to give me a wheelchair. Eventually someone came and escorted me to the Security area, then told me to sit and wait. I waited a long time, and it got close to flight departure time, so I began to worry and left my seat to find some advice. Eventually, someone was persuaded to phone the assistance people who turned up, once again, with a wheelchair. They took some persuading that I did not need it. We then queued to go through Security - no special treatment this time. But they did carry my boarding pass. The young man quizzed me. When I said "Asperger's" he seemed to get it. The Security area led straight into the perfume section of duty free! Even my personal ioniser was not strong enough, so I just held my nose and ran. I got on the plane ok. Well, all in all, it was not a disaster, but not ideal either.

    So...onwards and upwards. I'll try to be even more specific and organised next time.

    Hugers

Children