Toronto woman calls for change after wheelchair destroyed on Air Canada flight

Despite taking every possible precaution, an Air Canada passenger tells CityNews her wheelchair was destroyed on a flight last week, robbing her of her mobility and independence. 

“I feel like people with disabilities aren’t seen. Like we’re treated like luggage, like cattle, and this can’t continue anymore,” said Maayan Ziv in an emotional video posted to Instagram, just hours after her flight. 

Ziv, an accessibility advocate, travelled from Toronto to Tel Aviv on September 7. She was well-prepared, arriving to the airport four hours before her flight to bubble wrap her wheelchair in hopes of protecting it from any damage.

When she arrived in Tel Aviv, she was in disbelief.

“I’ve never seen my wheelchair in such bad shape, the damage was just so appalling,” she told CityNews in an interview. “Honestly, it felt really violent to see my wheelchair like that. Something that is so important to me, being so mistreated and so disregarded, like it just didn’t matter.” 

After a 10-hour flight she was looking forward to the comfort of her own customized chair. Instead, she was forced to use a wheelchair from the airport, much too large to properly support her body.

“I can’t really sit for long periods of time right now, because I don’t have the wheelchair that’s designed properly to support me. So I’m in a lot of pain talking to you right now,” she shared.

Ziv was travelling to Tel Aviv for a conference focused on accessibility in travel tourism, and now she can hardly participate.. 

“I came here excited to learn and network with people focused on accessibility in travel and tourism. It’s just so ironic that now I’m basically a case study for all of the barriers that still exist.”

Air Canada has offered to cover the cost of the damage. The wheelchair is valued at $30,000, but it will take time to repair or replace it.

“It could take anywhere from 6 months to a year down to actually sitting in my wheelchair and feeling good again,” said Ziv.

In a statement, Air Canada said, in part, “Each year, Air Canada successfully carries tens of thousands of customers who use mobility aids, and we fully appreciate the importance of these devices to their owners and have processes to ensure such journeys are smooth. Regrettably, in this case we did not meet our normal service levels.”

“It just points to an overall lack of care, by not just one airline, by all the airlines,” said Ziv. “We’re not asking for special treatment. People with disabilities deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Ziv said wheelchairs shouldn’t be treated like just any piece of luggage as they are an extension of a disabled person’s body. Eventually, the goal should be to allow people to stay in their mobility device on planes. 

“I can travel on a bus, I can get on a cruise ship, I can get on a taxi, there’s no other transportation where I have to be separated from my wheelchair.” 

The federal government has also released a statement on the incident, writing what Ziv experienced is completely unacceptable and explaining the government has been in touch with Air Canada and they’ll continue to follow the situation closely.  

Ziv said there needs to be more transparency in Canada about how often damage is being done to mobility devices on flights.