Traveling on a Flight with Parkinson's disease

Question: My elderly father flew on PenAir from Boston to Presque Isle, Maine. I phoned the airline ahead of time to ensure he would have wheelchair service. He has Parkinson's and is unable to walk any significant distance and the disease has affected his cognitive functions to a degree. 

On his return trip from Presque Isle to Boston, he approached the ticket counter on foot and due to the close proximity to the gate he was not offered a wheelchair. He had a small, wheeled suitcase as his carry-on, but due to the small size of the PenAir plane it could not be brought into the cabin. When the agent checked him in, she handed him a small ticket that she said was to be used for retrieving his carry-on luggage when he arrived in Boston and took his suitcase away. He then went through security screening and waited at the gate.

During the flight, an agent at PenAir from Presque Isle phoned me to tell me that my father had left his luggage behind. We determined that while his medication was not left in the bag, his hearing aid was. My father is unable to hear without use of his hearing aid. I worked to set up an overnight delivery of the bag and the PenAir agent was kind enough to deliver it to the UPS office after I faxed over the shipping label.

The total cost of shipping his luggage to California was $237. I am requesting a refund for this expense. My father was under wheelchair assistance request and as such, I would hope that the airline would assist with his boarding, including assuring that he brings his bags on board. I believe the ultimate responsibility for the safe passage of my father and his single carry-on item rests with PenAir. Can you help me get reimbursed for the cost of shipping his carry on?

— Liz Chassé-Crouse, Sacramento, Calif.

Answer: Chassé-Crouse tried ahead of time to ensure her father's long travel day would be as easy as possible by requesting wheelchair assistance from PenAir, a commuter airline with hubs in Anchorage and Boston. That's a free service that PenAir and other airlines offer travelers who need additional help transiting the airport. The service would have helped him manage his luggage, too.

"A passenger requiring wheelchair assistance has the option of holding onto their carry-on (in their lap while in the wheelchair) or our agent can assist in getting the bag to the security checkpoint, and onto the aircraft," says PenAir's chief operating officer, Dave Hall.

But while airlines will provide wheelchair assistance to anyone who has difficulty making it to the gate, they don't provide assistance to passengers who may have some cognitive issues, says disability travel expert Candy Harrington, author of several books on barrier-free travel.

And as it turns out, Chassé-Crouse's father was on his own once he left the check-in area. When PenAir reviewed Chassé-Crouse's complaint, the airline determined that her father had declined wheelchair assistance at Presque Isle. The distance from check-in to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoint is no more than 30 feet, according to the airline.

Getting an older parent to accept assistance can be challenging, according to Harrington, especially if they think it's only a short distance or that they don't really need the assistance.

"There is just nothing you can do to force a relative to use an airport wheelchair," says Harrington. "Sometimes it's like walking on eggshells."

Due to space limitations on the aircraft, PenAir required that Chassé-Crouse's father's gate check his carry-on, rather than bring it into the cabin. The check-in agent tagged the bag with the airline's blue carry-on label, and explained that he was to leave it planeside when boarding and to collect it upon arrival in Boston, but did not take the bag from him, according to PenAir. While waiting for TSA screening to start, Chassé-Crouse's father apparently forgot his carry-on in the lobby seating area.

Although every Parkinson's disease situation is unique, the stress of travel can make Parkinson's symptoms more pronounced, including cognitive issues, according to Linda Pituch, senior manager of patient services at the Parkinson's Disease Foundation.

Of course, the stress of travel leads people of all abilities to leave things behind. The TSA alone collects thousands of forgotten bags, cellphones, laptops, sunglasses and more from the 60 million people who fly each month. The catalog of misplaced items in airports and planes, hotels and rental cars can be downright bizarre -- and valuable.

Fortunately, Chassé-Crouse's father's left-behind bag was spotted in the Presque Isle airport by a TSA agent, who brought it back to PenAir.

From there, the normal procedure would have been to first do a security screening of the bag and then send it onward to his connecting carrier in Boston, according to Hall. But when a PenAir agent looked in the bag to identify it, she found that it contained items that the airline assumed he needed, says Hall. That included his hearing aid, without which he had trouble communicating.

In order to expedite delivery of the bag to the address Chassé-Crouse provided, and not just to the airport, PenAir worked with her to send it overnight. A PenAir agent even drove several miles to drop it off for delivery.

"If we had forwarded the bag via normal procedures, it wouldn't have gotten to the San Francisco airport for at least a day or more," says Hall.

PenAir agreed to take a second look at Chassé-Crouse's complaint, and offered to reimburse her for the $237 in shipping costs.

"We have made a special exception to cover the costs of shipping the bag," says Hall. "We care about our customers and are sorry Mr. Chasse left his carry-on item behind, and are happy to make this service gesture in shipping the bag."

How can you avoid trouble?

• Escort travelers with special needs all the way to the gate. Airlines can issue gate passes to parents bringing unaccompanied minors through security and all the way to the gate. Likewise, family members or companions can also conduct people who need assistance, such as elderly parents or spouses.

"This is authorized under the Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program and it's been our experience that it is usually approved and a rather seamless process," says TSA representative David Castelveter. The accompanying family member needs to request the gate pass from the airline and present valid identification. The airline runs the information through the TSA's Secure Flight program, and issues a gate pass. Airlines issue these gate passes, not the TSA, but the latter can help answer questions and facilitate the process with airlines. Travelers can contact the TSA at (866) 289-9673 or via e-mail at TSA-ContactCenter@tsa.dhs.gov.

• Discuss travel with the doctor. Travelers with Parkinson's disease may do better with medication adjustments on the day of travel, under the supervision of their physicians, according to Pituch. Timing travels well is also important, since Parkinson's symptoms can be worse at specific times of the day, she says.

• Attach a note to the ticket information of the traveler requiring wheelchair assistance. Describe his or her carry-ons in detail, so it's easier for attendants to keep track of luggage when the traveler with Parkinson's might not remember to share those details, says Pituch. Make sure luggage has contact information both inside and out.

• Call the Parkinson's Disease Foundation's toll-free Help Line for additional tips and support at (800) 457-6676.

• Go along for the trip. For some aging parents or travelers with cognitive issues, traveling alone may simply become too difficult. "There may be some resistance on the part of the parent to have someone accompany them, so my best advice is just to make it sound like it will be a fun trip for the both of you," says Harrington.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/burbank/2014/12/03/traveling-with-parkinsons-disease/19789677/