In five months, 859,749 passengers entered the country and 939,464 left, of which 13% of that figure used the wheelchair service offered by the airport.
SANTO DOMINGO - To circumvent procedures, conceal products prohibited by aviation laws, others for pure convenience, some to avoid tedious lines, perhaps for a change, some cases due to minor injuries, others due to real disability; this is how the multiple tricks that travelers have used for years to relax the use of wheelchairs in airports worked, to such an extent that the authorities have had to develop a protocol to control access to them.
According to data provided by Dominican Airports (Aerodom) authorities, an average of 800 to 1,000 people requested wheelchair services daily to leave the country at Las Américas International Airport, Dr. José Francisco Peña Gómez, during the current year.
The report on Wheelchair Movement for Passenger Arrivals and Departures, managed by the Las Américas International Airport, reports that from January to May 2022, 235,367 requests were made.
In these five months, 859,749 passengers entered the country, and 939,464 left, indicating that 13% of the people who entered and left the country during that period used the wheelchair service offered by the airport.
Aerodom stated that in the first 10 days after the implementation of the protocol, which, although it came to light this week, came into effect on July 20, seat requests were reduced to 2,000.
“On average, we have provided between 800 and 1,000 wheelchair services per day this year,” says Luis López, communications director of Aerodom.
Of the requests made to Aerodom from January to May of this year, 91,412 correspond to passengers using JetBlue service, 36,066 are Delta users, 22,825 United Airlines users, 19,709 Laser users, and 12,289 American users
Due to high demand, Aerodom and the airlines that operate flights at the airport terminal launched a set of guidelines to regulate and guide passengers using wheelchairs, given the evidence of their excessive use.
What the instructions say
This new system implemented by Aerodom establishes that during the check-in , the passenger or companion must request the wheelchair service at the check-in counter.
Each airline will have two folding chairs that will be behind the counters , as they will not be allowed to have them in plain sight.
From the moment of check-in, Samsic, the provider of wheelchairs at the airport, will be notified. At that time, their staff will arrive with an empty wheelchair picked up directly from the designated storage facilities.
The staff in charge of the chairs will not be visible to passengers, but Samsic will have supervisors who can be contacted directly.
Aerodom indicated that once Samsic staff arrive, the passenger must change seats, leaving the folding one available to be stored again.
Staff will escort the passenger after verifying they have a completed ticket. The person sitting in front of the counter should not remain there for more than 4-5 minutes.
Those who return
The instructions include returning passengers, who will be waited for at the boarding bridge with the exact number of seats, with the reservations that the airline has available.
Another situation that occurred previously was that sometimes extra chairs would be brought in, and when passengers saw available chairs, they would request the service, which encouraged more people to use the service and congested the process.
Only the airline will be authorized to request the service from the provider; that is, only the airline can call the company that offers the service to request the wheelchairs for the claimant passenger.
