Guide Dogs NSW/ACT offers free training to offending airlines
Discrimination against a client and her Guide Dog leads to airlines-training opportunity.
Following recent cases of Guide Dog users being denied access to flights, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT has offered free training to all domestic airlines operating out of Sydney.
The training would provide information on how airline staff can assist customers who are blind or have impaired vision.
Guide Dogs are legally allowed on aircraft, and refusing entry to a Guide Dog user can result in legal action.
Late last year, however, Sydneysider Donna Purcell was told by both Qantas and Tiger Airways that she could not board an interstate flight with her Guide Dog, Hetty.
"First they said we couldn't take Hetty on the plane. Then they told us we'd have to buy an extra seat for her," Donna says. "The check-in staff just didn't know their own policies." Donna and her husband had to organise overnight accommodation, and re-book a flight the following day at a higher price.
Donna travels by air frequently for her work, but this was the first time she had been prevented from boarding a flight with her Guide Dog.
"The cabin crew are usually very good," Donna notes. "It's the front-line staff that need discrimination awareness training."
After Qantas and Tiger Airways failed to address her initial grievances, Donna submitted formal complaints to both airlines, as well as to the Australian Human Rights Commission. "I have attended a reconciliation meeting with one airline, but am still waiting to hear from the other," she says.
Community education is a vital part of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT's work for people who are blind or have impaired vision. We have already commenced training with Regional Express (Rex), but are yet to receive a response to our invitations to train other airlines' staff.
To find out more about our many community-education programs, please visit our website, www.guidedogs.com.au.