Airlines damaged thousands of mobility aids this year: Here's how 30+ flyers were affected

“I fully expect my wheelchair to keep getting damaged, and it’s a fairly significant source of stress for me when I fly,” Heather Bennett said. Bennett is one of thousands of wheelchair users whose devices were damaged while flying in 2023 and one of more than 30 disabled travelers who shared their personal stories of such damage with USA TODAY this year. According to the Department of Transportation, there were 8,637 reported mobility device damage incidents as of September, about 1.4% of the total number transported. Full-year data for 2023 is expected in early 2024. For comparison, by the end of September 2022, airlines had reported 8,348 incidents of mobility device damage to the DOT. While the numbers for 2023 are slightly higher so far, airlines also carried almost 75,000 more mobility devices in 2023 compared to the previous year. Even so, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said those numbers need to be brought way down. “Any number greater than zero is not an acceptable number,” he said. “This not only affects your trip, it affects your life.” Bennett agreed, saying not a lot of people realize, “it’s not just the damage to the chair, it’s the time in my life that I have to take to fix it that ended up being costly.” Buttigieg and accessibility advocates want airlines to do better, and are optimistic about regulatory changes being considered for 2024 that could help bring some improvement. <br/>