In my mind, I've always (okay, the last ten years or so) thought about owning/running a quilt shop. Whenever I see an empty building in our area, I mentally think about how that spot would/would not work as a space. And whenever I enter a new quilt shop, the back of my mind is storing ideas or rejecting layouts. The reality is, this will always be a dream. One of those things I think about, but will most likely never do.
In the last two weeks an airline called Frontline has made news in the SCI world, and not in a positive way. They were fined $50,000 for refusing to allow a passenger to fly because he was a quadriplegic and couldn't hold himself upright in the seat without extended seatbelts (which he had made the staff aware of when the bought the ticket and had even brought his own belt extensions) and then a second man was boarded after the plane was full (wheelchair users are always first on, last off because staff needs the extra room to transfer them in out of the boarding chair and into the passenger seat), so the staff did not have room to maneuver as much as they usually do and they dropped the passenger during the transfer (someone didn't remember to put the armrest on the plane chair up and out of the way). Thankfully he wasn't hurt (other than bruising), but he did complain, as well he should have, and requested that attendants be re-trained (or trained, period) in how to handle wheelchair bound passengers. So here's my new idea deposited in my mental job bank: an airline that's main customers are wheelchair users and their families and friends. Airplanes will have every other three rows (one row of seats, then the next three rows removed) and will have runners in the floor where electric chairs or scooters can be "locked" down into the floor, just like a passenger van for wheelchair users. Since wheelchairs are heavy, there will be less passengers on each flight, and flights would be limited to the number you could have a day (due to the amount of time boarding and deplaning). There will also be a luggage/storage space in the back for walkers, canes, and larger-sized carry-on bags since many wheelchair users need medical supplies throughout the day. Restrooms on-board will be wheelchair accessible. Granted, you wouldn't be able to fly to as many places, but I think if you had international flights going out three times a week and to main cities in America daily, I think they'd easily fill up. Manual wheelchairs would still have to transfer into regular seats,(for safety purposes) but their chairs could be stored in the top of the plane storage area and not underneath. The profits probably wouldn't be anywhere near what regular airlines make, but with 1 million SCIers in America alone (and that doesn't count other disabilities, that's just spinal cord injuries), and knowing how bad of a rep the airline industry has among this group, I bet people would flock to it.
Just another thing to think about while cooking supper. :)
In the last two weeks an airline called Frontline has made news in the SCI world, and not in a positive way. They were fined $50,000 for refusing to allow a passenger to fly because he was a quadriplegic and couldn't hold himself upright in the seat without extended seatbelts (which he had made the staff aware of when the bought the ticket and had even brought his own belt extensions) and then a second man was boarded after the plane was full (wheelchair users are always first on, last off because staff needs the extra room to transfer them in out of the boarding chair and into the passenger seat), so the staff did not have room to maneuver as much as they usually do and they dropped the passenger during the transfer (someone didn't remember to put the armrest on the plane chair up and out of the way). Thankfully he wasn't hurt (other than bruising), but he did complain, as well he should have, and requested that attendants be re-trained (or trained, period) in how to handle wheelchair bound passengers. So here's my new idea deposited in my mental job bank: an airline that's main customers are wheelchair users and their families and friends. Airplanes will have every other three rows (one row of seats, then the next three rows removed) and will have runners in the floor where electric chairs or scooters can be "locked" down into the floor, just like a passenger van for wheelchair users. Since wheelchairs are heavy, there will be less passengers on each flight, and flights would be limited to the number you could have a day (due to the amount of time boarding and deplaning). There will also be a luggage/storage space in the back for walkers, canes, and larger-sized carry-on bags since many wheelchair users need medical supplies throughout the day. Restrooms on-board will be wheelchair accessible. Granted, you wouldn't be able to fly to as many places, but I think if you had international flights going out three times a week and to main cities in America daily, I think they'd easily fill up. Manual wheelchairs would still have to transfer into regular seats,(for safety purposes) but their chairs could be stored in the top of the plane storage area and not underneath. The profits probably wouldn't be anywhere near what regular airlines make, but with 1 million SCIers in America alone (and that doesn't count other disabilities, that's just spinal cord injuries), and knowing how bad of a rep the airline industry has among this group, I bet people would flock to it.
Just another thing to think about while cooking supper. :)
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