kabarsula ‘Going to the bathroom isn’t a luxury’: The painful reality of flying with a disability in Australia bandar SLOT INDONESIA
Australians with disability can spend hours on domestic flights unable to use the toilet, forcing some passengers to restrict fluids, use enemas before travelling or find other ways to relieve themselves during a flight.
It is one of the realities of accessible air travel highlighted by Julie Jones, co-founder of accessible travel platform Have Wheelchair Will Travel, as Physical Disability Australia (PDA) calls for binding new standards governing how airlines and airports accommodate passengers with disability.
Jones told Travel Weekly that while accessible bathrooms are available on some larger international aircraft, passengers travelling domestically can face hours in the air without access to a toilet they can use.
“Some people have enemas the day before to ensure bowel continence on a flight,” she said. “Some people during night flights are using, like men using, a bottle under a blanket, having their partner or somebody go and empty it for them.
“So it’s very inhumane, that side of it.”
Jones had flown from Perth to Sydney the day before speaking to Travel Weekly and said there was no accessible bathroom available during the roughly four-hour journey.
“The fact that in 2026 people still don’t have accessible bathrooms … going to the bathroom isn’t a luxury,” she said.
‘We are not cargo’
PDA has lodged a submission to the Federal Government’s Aviation Disability Standards consultation calling for enforceable rules rather than voluntary guidance for airlines and airports.
The peak body, which represents Australians with physical disability, argues passengers continue to face broken mobility aids, denied boarding and inadequate assistance when flying.
Its submission calls for nine key changes, including mobility aids being treated as an extension of the person, passengers being allowed to remain in their own wheelchairs for as long as possible, published limits on passengers requiring assistance and mandatory disability competency training.
It also calls for accessible toilets, moveable armrests, accessible passenger controls and accessible in-flight information to become standard on new and refurbished aircraft.
“Flying is not a luxury. It is how we get to work, to medical care, to family, to a life,” PDA CEO Suzanne Gearing said.
“We are not cargo. We are passengers. It’s time the rules said so.”
Losing independence at the airport
For Jones, one of the fundamental problems with flying is that people who are ordinarily independent can become dependent on others as soon as they hand over their mobility device.
“Air travel is a huge problem for people with significant disabilities, and it’s an experience where they feel quite unempowered,” she told Travel Weekly.
Someone who ordinarily wheels themselves around independently can suddenly be placed in an airline wheelchair they cannot move themselves.
“You become totally dependent as soon as you hand over your mobility device,” Jones said.
That dependence makes damage to a wheelchair particularly serious.
Most wheelchairs are specifically configured for their owner, Jones explained, meaning a replacement cannot necessarily be hired at the destination if one is damaged in transit.
“It’s like somebody that is able-bodied having their legs broken mid-flight and arriving and unsure how they’re going to actually manage the rest of their journey,” she said.
Not everything is black and white
Despite the significant barriers, Jones said some aspects of PDA’s submission did not resonate with her and stressed that improving accessible aviation required responsibility from both the industry and travellers.
She said her family had experienced “extremely good” service from Australia’s three domestic airlines and positive experiences travelling internationally with her son.
Jones also pointed to advice she recently heard from an airline representative that around 30 per cent of passengers requiring assistance arrive at airports without having advised the airline of their access needs in advance.
“If we have both sides, [they] need to take responsibility,” she said.
“People with disability need to definitely be better informed.”
At the same time, Jones said airlines and airports could do more to ensure passengers understand what information they need to provide before travelling.
Aircraft themselves can also impose practical restrictions. Jones said the size of cargo doors can determine whether larger power wheelchairs can be carried on particular aircraft, while limits can apply to the number of wheelchairs carried.
“There’s no one size fits all for disability, so it’s very difficult to be able to accommodate the vast needs of people,” she said.
Accessibility before luxury
Jones said she was encouraged by work underway within airlines and airports and had provided feedback to both Qantas and Perth Airport.
“You can see that there are teams of people that are really keen to make it better,” she said. “It’s just that better sometimes is a bit slow.”
But as the aviation industry prepares for a new generation of ultra-long-haul flying, Jones questioned whether some of its priorities need to change.
Pointing to discussion around wellness and exercise spaces aboard ultra-long-haul aircraft such as those planned for Qantas’ Project Sunrise, Jones said basic accessibility should come first.
“How can we be focusing on a gym at this point when we still don’t have really good accessible bathrooms on board?” she said.
“We need to prioritise those.”
kabarsula SLOT
