Best Airlines For Wheelchair Users, New Study Suggests
Congested airports and narrow airplane aisles are just some of the challenges faced by airline passengers traveling in wheelchairs. A new study says JetBlue Airways ranks No. 1 in wheelchair accessibility for airline passengers, and Delta Air Lines is No. 2.
The study by travel insurance company InsureMyTrip analyzed wheelchair accessibility at 10 U.S. airlines during 2024. The company established a 0-to-10-point scale, using Department of Transportation data that shows reviews by passengers using wheelchairs and the number of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters.
JetBlue was given the highest score—7.4. Of 29,147 wheelchairs and mobility scooters JetBlue boarded in 2024, only 464, or 1.6%, were recorded as mishandled, InsureMyTrip says. JetBlue also had the highest percentage of positive reviews from wheelchair users.
Delta Airlines ranked second with a score of 6.9. The airline had the lowest percentage of wheelchairs and mobility scooters mishandled—0.6%.
With a score of 6.7, Alaska Airlines finished No. 3. The airline transported more than 35,000 wheelchairs and mobility scooters in 2024, and only 547, or 1.5%, were reported as mishandled.
'Air travel should be accessible for everyone, but that's far from the reality,' says Sara Boisvert, Insure My Trip's marketing director. 'We hope this study shines a light on which airlines are getting it right and which have room for improvement, so wheelchair users can make an informed decision when booking a flight.'
Frontier Airlines had the lowest score—2.2—and American Airlines' 3.3 score was second lowest. Frontier did not respond to a request for comment.
American responded with a written statement.
'American has a long-standing commitment to serving passengers using wheelchairs,' the airline wrote. 'Just last year, American invested over $175 million in service, infrastructure and training to improve the travel experience for customers traveling with wheelchairs or other mobility devices. These investments are improving the experience for our customers. Since 2022, American's mishandled wheelchair and scooter rate has reduced by more than 30%. And our rate of wheelchair delays improved more than 50% year over year.'
More than 5 million people in the U.S. use wheelchairs while traveling, and they face 'unique challenges,' Boisvert says. The challenges include inaccessible restrooms and aisles and risk of damage to, or loss of, mobility devices, 'which can cost thousands of dollars and significantly impact quality of life.'
In 2024, new federal rules were implemented to strengthen protections for wheelchair users while flying. The rules also mandated that airlines would be responsible for reimbursing passengers for wheelchairs damaged while flying. Major airlines are challenging the rules in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
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Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘No Colon, Still Rollin'': Cass Bargell, US scrum-half and ostomy advocate, sets sights on World Cup
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Yahoo
24 minutes ago
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Money over love? How finances are affecting romantic relationships
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Nearly half of Americans are taking the lyrics to TLC's 1999 hit 'No Scrubs' to heart, with 48% reporting they would not date someone without a job, even if they were attracted to them. Brie Temple, Tawkify's chief commercial officer and chief matchmaker, said the matchmaking company's clients want to date someone who adds to their life and not someone who is financially dependent on them. More: Uncomfortable Conversations: What is financial infidelity and how can you come clean? 'Women, in particular, are saying things like 'I'm not interested in being a nurse or a purse,' particularly if they're dealing with an older demographic,' Temple said. More: Can you afford your friends? That active social life can come at a steep price Deal breakers While not the leading cause, money issues are one of the reasons couples get divorced. But conversely, in some cases, money is the reason people stay together. Some 69% of those Tawkify surveyed said they remained in a relationship longer than they wanted due to shared finances. Single people might be quicker to cut someone off over bad money habits. A separate survey of 2,000 Americans conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Chime, found 26% said a date being ungenerous or stingy gives them a 'financial ick.' At the same time, a third said they would be put off by a partner who lives beyond their means. Jason Tartick, a banker and host of the podcast 'Trading Secrets,' said overspending is no longer 'cool' because it represents a lack of authenticity. 'It's beyond refreshing in this dating environment because it's allowing for a bit more openness,' said Tartick, who was also a contestant on season 14 of The Bachelorette. 'I think the openness is what will actually create connection, not a facade of something that is just an illusion.' 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Most Gen Zers are finding ways to date without spending money, with 53% of men and 54% of women reporting they spend $0 per month on romance. A quarter of Gen Z men and 30% of Gen Z women said they spend less than $100 a month on dating. When Gen Z does spend money on dates, they're more open to splitting the bill than older generations. The Talker Research/Chime survey found while 45% of Gen Xers and 42% of baby boomers believe men should pick up the tab, only 36% of Gen Zers agreed. Overall, 39% of men said they feel pressured to appear more financially stable than they are. At 47%, nearly half believe men should cover all the costs of a date, compared to only about a third of women. 'It's just fascinating for me to watch people's conversations online,' Williams said. 'People are regularly saying, 'I want a man who will pay for everything and take me on trips and here, there, and everywhere,' but in reality, when people are actually dating, they tend to be a bit more flexible.' When the love versus money question is asked in a different way, 58% of women are more likely to pick a 'broke and magical' relationship over financial security, compared to 51% of men, the Tawkify survey found. When broken down by age group, Gen Z is the generation second most likely to choose love over money, second only to millennials. More than half of both groups said they'd pick the 'broke and magical' relationship. Only 46% of Gen Xers and 48% of baby boomers reported the same. When and how to talk about money Half of Gen Zers and millennials said it's attractive when someone is upfront about their income, compared to only 23% of baby boomers, according to the Talker Research/Chime survey. It also found, however, that money remains one of the largest sources of stress in dating. To alleviate some of that anxiety, Temple recommends couples talk about money early and often in their relationship. Williams suggests setting up a specific time to chat about it once a week or every couple of weeks, if a couple is living together or in a serious relationship. For those struggling to broach the subject, Williams said even talking to your partner about egg prices is a place to start. More: What a viral TikTok teaches us about ghosting 'The reality is that it's relatable that life's so expensive,' he said. 'As opposed to creating tension with finances by not willing to have the conversations, you can actually create vulnerability by connecting via relatability.' If your partner shares financial information, Tartick said make sure not to use it against them. 'When we say money, everyone becomes very guarded... We are afraid of being shamed and blamed,' he said. 'You hear people joking around at the dinner table, 'Oh, my wife or husband has Amazon packages everyday' and we're constantly weaponizing information that has to do with spending.' Financial questions couples should discuss Tartick suggests asking the following questions to learn about someone's financial values while keeping money conversations fun: If you won $1 million and had to spend it in 24 hours, what would you spend it on? What's one thing you know you overspend on, but will keep doing it anyway? What's your dream income? Temple recommends asking: What's the largest splurge purchase you've made for yourself and why? When I say, 'financial freedom,' what does that bring up for you? Growing up, how did your parents or guardians talk about money? Williams also suggests setting clear expectations about who plans and pays for dates early on in a relationship. If money is tight, she recommends budget-friendly ideas including game nights and taking advantage of free museum days. Tartick said it's time to get real about numbers when a couple thinks about moving in together or getting married. He said they should ask about each other's credit score, number of financial accounts, annual expenses, salary, debt to income ratio, net worth, overall risk tolerance, and their target retirement age. 'If these are the numbers the bank is looking at to decide if you can get a mortgage or a loan to start up a company, why aren't these numbers that we're talking about with our partner?' he said. Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@ and follow her on X @rachelbarber_ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Money or love? Survey finds Americans divided over which matters more
USA Today
25 minutes ago
- USA Today
Airlines say AI won't set fares by passenger. Experts aren't so sure.
Cruising Altitude is a weekly column about air travel. Have a suggestion for a future topic? Fill out the form or email me at the address at the bottom of this page. It's no secret that airline pricing can be opaque and confusing to many travelers – even to experts. When I spoke to William J. McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project, we joked that one of the worst questions an aviation expert can get asked at a party is, 'how do I find a good deal on airfare?' The answer is usually best represented by the shrugging emoji: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ However, flight pricing is getting a renewed round of attention after Glen Hauenstein, president of Delta Air Lines, acknowledged on the company's earnings call last month that the airline is testing a new AI tool to help set its fares. Panic from consumers, advocates and even lawmakers naturally ensued as the specter of a new way for corporations to squeeze every penny out of us appeared on the horizon. For now, Delta (and other airlines) insist that they're not using AI to make prices truly individualized, but as technology gets more sophisticated, the already-dynamic pricing model used in the aviation industry is likely to get more granular. How do airlines price tickets today? Again, I say: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 'This is such an opaque process, there is so much that we don't know about what they know about us,' McGee said. Airlines acknowledge using some of our personal data in setting prices even now but say that such information is used only in the aggregate, not to tailor fares to individual travelers. In a letter to senators after last month's earnings call, Delta Air Lines' Executive Vice President of External Affairs, Peter Carter, explained how the carrier does and doesn't use passenger data for setting prices. 'There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized prices based on personal data. ... Our AI-powered pricing functionality is designed to enhance our existing fare pricing processes using aggregated data,' the letter said. 'Given the tens of millions of fares and hundreds of thousands of routes for sale at any given time, the use of new technology like AI promises to streamline the process by which we analyze existing data and the speed and scale at which we can respond to changing market dynamics.' Still, McGee said airlines have a history of testing the limits of price differentiation. 'It's really a much longer story going back 20 or 25 years at least. The technology has improved for them, and that has increased the airline industry's ability to tailor surveillance pricing, individualized pricing,' he said. For now, Delta says it's just using AI technology to streamline the work of its human analysts, who ultimately set and file its fares. Kyle Potter, editor of Thrifty Traveler, a travel and flight deal website, said it makes sense that airlines don't have the technical capability right now to target prices at specific passengers, because the system airlines use to file their fares relies on outdated technology. 'The technology in how airlines set fares and distribute them to their own website and other third-party sites, is really a roadblock to offering truly individualized airfare,' he said. 'There's no way to weave in the massive amount of data that airlines have or could have into offering a truly dynamic set of prices that varies from person to person. That's just not possible today at any kind of scale that I'm aware of.' How could AI be used for airline pricing in the future? For a third time I say: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There are just too many variables to be sure about how all this will develop. 'Where we're at right now is that we're going to come to look at Delta's comments last month to investors as a trial balloon for just how far Americans would be willing to go to accept some level of personalized pricing,' Potter said. 'The answer, at least for the last month, has pretty clearly been not at all.' Delta, which is the poster child for pricing developments in the airline world right now, insists it has no intention to ever set truly individualized prices. 'There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized prices based on personal data,' Carter's letter said. But McGee, who works as a consumer advocate, said it's important for both passengers and regulators to not get complacent as predictive pricing technology gets more powerful. 'It's going to be very hard, but it's necessary, for regulators and legislators to get their hands around this and understand it,' he said. 'It's not unimaginable that if this goes unchecked and there's not action by Congress or (the Department of Transportation), we may all be paying a different fare for the same flight within a few years. That's going to be a tough thing to undo.' Potter agreed with McGee's assessment. 'I think what we saw this year, what we've seen again and again and again over the last several decades is that airlines will do whatever it takes to charge people the highest fares possible within the constraints of the technology that they currently have,' he said. 'The global airline industry has been trying to push towards a future of personalized airfare. Just because there's a backlash now doesn't mean this isn't going to happen eventually.' Last week's Cruising Altitude: Travel tips every senior should know for stress-free flights How do I find the best airfares? For one final time, I say: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Airfares are subject to change at any time, and the prices are set by people working in a black box behind a curtain. In general, the advice experts have always given me is to trust your gut. If you feel like you're getting a good deal on airfare when you look for flights, you probably are. Also: it's a good idea to leverage consumer-facing price prediction tools, like those available on Google Flights, Expedia and other airfare aggregators.
