B.C. woman with disability alleges discrimination after being forced to deplane over wheelchair size

A young Abbotsford, B.C., woman with disabilities claims she experienced ableism on a recent Air Canada flight.

Kourtney Kujawa, 24, uses a motorized wheelchair, which the airline said was too big to put in the cargo hold.

On Sunday, Kujawa was leaving Vancouver International Airport for Denver, Colo., for a conference for people who also have the same rare genetic skin disorder called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.

“It's a place where I don't feel different; I feel so different when I'm at home. So it was just really important for me to come and see my old friends and meet some new ones,” she told CTV News.

Kujawa was travelling with her sister and friend. Prior to the flight, she had given the travel agent the dimensions of the wheelchair and she had requested that the trio sit together near the front. Her hands have been amputated and she needs the help from loved ones.

“I need assistance with most everything and so like, walking, putting the seatbelt on, passing the drink or if I needed medication,” she explained.

But when they got to the airport, they learned their seats were split up. Eventually, an agent was able to find seats for Kujawa to sit with her friend.

Just when they were prepared for takeoff, a flight attendant told them the wheelchair did not fit even after they tried to take the headrest off.

Kujawa said it came as a shock to her since she’s flown nearly a dozen times in the same wheelchair and has never had any issues.

“It was humiliating for me to have to walk off,” she said.

They waited a couple of hours for the next flight, which was going to be a bigger aircraft.

But despite their optimism, they were told again that the wheelchair was too big and it needed to be disassembled.

“We didn't have the tools and so they told us that we needed to bring our Allen key or a wrench next time with us,” she said.

With the help of a mechanic, they spent roughly 90 minutes taking the wheelchair apart, delaying the flight for everyone on board.

“I felt like I messed up a lot of people's flights and connection flights and all this stuff. And I just felt really bad about everything. I feel like people with disabilities shouldn't have to worry about stuff like this. We have enough going on that we should just be able to not worry about the flying process,” she said.

The trio eventually arrived in Denver, albeit nine hours later than anticipated.

Gabor Lukacs, founder of Air Passenger Rights, said Kujawa should never have been asked to bring her own tools.

“The passenger can be asked to provide a manual for disassembling and assembling, and can be asked to arrive earlier for check in or be earlier at the boarding gate, but those are the only obligations of the passenger,” he said.

Lukacs said airlines are required to prioritize mobility aids over baggage and cargo.

“The bottom line is that these are discriminatory matters: not transporting a person because of their disability," he said.

He said the only exception is if the cargo door is too small.

Air Canada did not comment on the specifics of Kujawa’s experience or say whether the door was too small but did defend its process for those travelling with wheelchairs.

“We have well-prescribed procedures in place for customers requiring assistance and we make every effort to assist customers who are travelling with a wheelchair,” the company wrote in an email statement.

It said it has a specialized Air Canada Medical Assistance Desk, in which passengers must call at least 48 hours before departure to provide the dimensions and information on the battery type of their mobility aid.

It said this is to ensure the wheelchair can fit through the plane’s cargo door.

“Air Canada will make every effort to accommodate passengers and their mobility aid, and if necessary, we will remove any cargo or baggage in order to make room for the storage of the mobility aid,” the statement said.

Kujawa’s mother said they did call the special phone line, which had an hour wait, and it referred them to the website.

Dimensions of the wheelchair were given to the airline through their travel agent.

“They knew that they were getting someone with a mobility issue. They had a dimension of the mobility aid, so just do the right thing,” Lukacs said, adding the airline should’ve booked them on a different flight in advance or had a team ready to disassemble and reassemble the wheelchair.

Kujawa will be returning to Abbotsford next week, and she is unsure if she wants to fly with Air Canada again if it means disassembling the wheelchair.

The airline told CTV News it will be contacting Kujawa.