All Wheels Up

A Wheelchair Spot - Roadmap to Accessible Air Travel

Currently there is no wheelchair spot on airplanes, just as before 1990 there were no wheelchair accessible buses. It took 14 years for buses to become accessible. With the R&D and all the key stakeholders aligned, a wheelchair spot on planes is possible. The biggest question is how do we get from where we are today to implementation? The largest hurdles are that there are no standards for crash testing wheelchairs, there are no wheelchairs or wheelchair securement systems currently developed or manufactured to FAA standards (as they do not exist). This student team completed a step by step easy to understand guide for multiple industries on how to get from today with no wheelchair spot on planes, no standards, and no R&D started, to the point of certification and implementation.