The Justice and Equity Centre is representing Chelsea Hopkins-Allan in a disability discrimination complaint against Qantas after a series of errors caused extensive delays, missed flights and left her stranded in Perth airport, hours from her home. The experience was distressing and impacted Chelsea’s health, putting her at significant risk.
Chelsea flies for work and to visit family on the other side of Australia. As she has a health condition that can cause muscle weakness, she uses a small motorised scooter for some activities, including when she travels. She has travelled with her scooter on Rex, Virgin and Jetstar flights without issue, by following safety requirements for air travel with a battery-powered mobility device.
Before booking her flight with Qantas, Chelsea did extensive research and received advice directly from the airline to ensure she could comply with its requirements. When she booked her ticket, she also booked accessibility services offered by Qantas that would meet her accessibility needs.
‘I just needed to check in my small, foldable mobility scooter and get assistance to the gate,’ said Chelsea. ‘These are quite minor accessibility requests using services readily offered by Qantas. I followed all their required procedures and was told repeatedly over the phone and via the website the services were available.’
But Qantas’ errors began as soon as Chelsea arrived at Sydney airport.
Qantas gave Chelsea conflicting advice about travelling with her mobility scooter and battery, misplaced parts of her scooter, and left her waiting without assistance for long periods. This meant she:
- missed her booked flight from Sydney to Perth, forcing her on a later flight,
- was refused transit through security screening because her boarding pass did not show she was authorised to travel with her scooter battery, creating stress and further delay,
- was left waiting for promised wheelchair assistance at the Sydney boarding gate that never showed, despite repeated requests, and was only able to board her flight with assistance from her family who had stayed to ensure the assistance arrived,
- was left waiting for her scooter for at least an hour when the plane landed in Perth, despite repeatedly informing Qantas staff about her connecting flight to Albany, and discovered parts for her scooter missing when it was brought to the gate,
- missed the last available flight of the day to Albany as a result, and was left in an empty airport terminal while her health was deteriorating,
- had to find and travel to a hotel while unwell and at her own expense, and
- was too unwell to fly solo the next day, resulting in her friend missing two days of work to make a 10-hour round trip from Albany to Perth to drive her home.
‘At first I felt demoralised and humiliated, as I tried to battle through each challenge as it came up. But after many hours of exhaustive efforts to get home, I felt shocked and afraid. My health was declining and I was in an almost deserted terminal feeling dangerously vulnerable,’ says Chelsea.
‘With this experience, I am now acutely aware of how vulnerable people with disabilities are when using air travel. I can only imagine how hard it is for someone with more significant limitations. I’m determined to contribute to fixing the system, so this harm doesn’t keep happening.
‘When I shared my experience with Qantas, to help improve safety and accessibility, I felt repeatedly dismissed, ignored and misled. I’ve made this complaint so Qantas has to listen and has to act.
Quotes attributable to Sheetal Balakrishnan, Senior Solicitor at the Justice and Equity Centre:
‘Australian discrimination law is clear – Qantas must ensure its services are safe and accessible for people with disability.
‘Chelsea did everything in her power to be able to travel safety and independently. But inaccessible systems let her down, causing immense stress and anxiety, and damaging her health.
‘Like many Australians, Chelsea has to travel vast distances for her work and to visit family. Air travel should be just as available to her as it is to people without disability.
‘People with disability shouldn’t have to take on a multi-billion-dollar corporation to challenge discrimination and get a fair outcome.
‘Australia needs comprehensive accessibility standards for air travel, with a regulator given enough power to hold airlines and airports to account.
Chelsea and Sheetal are available for further comment, pending availability.
Media contact:
Communications Coordinator, Seamus May: 0478 739 280
