CAA reports on airports' assistance for passengers with a disability or reduced mobility
Above:
CAA offices at Gatwick.
Copyright CAA
Under European regulations, airports and airlines must provide help and support to disabled passengers and those with reduced mobility, to better enable this group of people to travel by air.
During 2015/2016 the CAA established a new performance framework and worked with 30 of the busiest UK airports to assess each of them against a number of key measures.
These measures included:
- How long passengers have to wait for assistance (both departure and arrival)
- The levels of passenger satisfaction with the assistance provided, gathered from CAA passenger surveys and airports'* own surveys
- How much consultation airports had with disability organisations regarding assistance services, what consultation methods were used, if issues were addressed and what, if any, action was taken
The new framework has been introduced by the CAA in order to ensure there is a consistent and high quality service for disabled passengers and those with reduced mobility across UK airports. It will also help the CAA identify dips in performance so that it can act quickly and work with airports to ensure that the issues are addressed effectively. If necessary the CAA can also take enforcement action to ensure services are improved for passengers.
All 30 airports have now been assessed and given a performance rating of either very good, good, taking steps, or poor. Airports with performance ratings very good or good, and those that have 'taken steps' to improve performance, account for 97% of all travellers that use the assistance service at airports.
Above:
Table of airport performance (Note: The CAA's full report 'Accessible air travel: Airport performance report 2015/16'
, provides a full explanation of how each ranking is defined).
Courtesy CAA
The CAA requires each airport make its performance public and this, combined with the CAA's annual report comparing their performance, will help drive the right behaviours and ensure that delivering a high quality assistance service to this group of travellers is a priority for each airport
The CAA's Head of Consumer Enforcement, Matthew Buffey, said: “Our research shows passenger satisfaction with special assistance at UK airports is high with 85% satisfied or very satisfied.
“However, high standards are not always universal, and occasionally things go wrong for disabled people and those with reduced mobility. These passengers are very much dependent on airport staff providing the appropriate assistance so it's a really important task for airports to get right.
“We have worked closely with airports to help drive improvements and provide practical guidance where needed. Overall we are pleased that performance has generally been good, with some excellent examples of airports supporting their passengers who have mobility needs.
“Providing a consistently high quality assistance service to disabled people and those with reduced mobility should be a top priority for the senior management of UK airports, and we do not expect standards to slip.
“To ensure that this is the case, we will continue to monitor performance standards and, where any issues do arise, take action quickly to protect the rights of disabled people and those with reduced mobility.”
Passenger Satisfaction
A recent consumer survey, carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the CAA, looked at behaviours, attitudes, experiences and satisfaction levels in relation to air travel amongst a nationally representative sample of passengers.
The report found the following satisfaction levels among disabled people and those with a reduced mobility.
- Overall satisfaction with the most recent air travel experience was 87% for passengers with a disability or reduced mobility, which compares with 90% satisfaction for passengers overall
- In addition, those who requested special assistance have a high level of satisfaction with the service they use, with 85% satisfied overall and 57% very satisfied
- However, only 36% of people with a disability or reduced mobility have travelled in the last 12 months, compared with 58% for those without a disability.
- In addition 10% of people with a disability or reduced mobility have never flown, compared to 6% overall. Among reasons identified for not flying include the passengers' disability or health condition (36% of those with a disability or reduced mobility who have never flown), concerns with airport access (six per cent) and fear of flying (15%).
The full Ipsos MORI report, will be published by the CAA shortly.
*
Under the new performance framework airports are required to carry out passenger satisfaction surveys with PRMs, however in some cases airports did not do this and this would be reflected in their assessment and rating.
To read the CAA's Accessible air travel: Airport performance report 2015/16 go to: www.caa.co.uk/CAP1438
