CANADA – On Instagram, a woman named Maayan Ziv has shared her story claiming that Air Canada lost her wheelchair. In a video, the woman can be heard speaking with an employee who claims that her wheelchair was never loaded on the flight.
“But they told me they put it in a container,” she says.
“I completely understand that madame but I can see over here it was never loaded on the flight,” the employee can be heard saying.
“After a 12-hour flight home, I waited anxiously to receive my wheelchair that Air Canada had already damaged. I was told that my wheelchair was lost and had not been loaded on the flight. I was told my wheelchair did not make it to Toronto,” reads her Instagram post.
Maayan Ziv Shares the Bigger Picture
Ziv identifies herself on Instagram as the founder of “AccessNow”, an app that shares accessible locations around the world. She shared that the issue is bigger than her mobility aid getting lost. She claims that she was told to fill out a baggage claim for her mobility aid.
“Regardless of how much attention my story has received, and the lengths Air Canada has taken to ‘handle’ it….my wheelchair, my mobility, is still being treated as luggage,” she wrote.
“After the amount of trauma and pain I have experienced this past month due to the negligence of @aircanada breaking my wheelchair, learning that I was facing yet another crisis just points to just how systemic this discrimination really is. I am exhausted. I am angry. I am tired of fighting so hard to protect my basic human rights of independence, health, and mobility,” her post continues.
“I cannot understand how airlines can be so careless with mobility devices. Every day these stories are happening around the world. Every day disabled people are being robbed of our mobility. My wheelchair is an extension of my body. Without my wheelchair, my life comes to a halt,” her post continued.
“Enough is enough. We must demand air travel reform to protect the rights and safety of people with disabilities.”
Ziv Claims to Have Located Her Wheelchair by Herself
In an update posted online, Ziv shared that she was able to track down her chair thanks to a tracker she placed on the mobility aid.
“It was on the tarmac in Toronto. No one was able to communicate this to me for hours. No one apparently knew where my wheelchair was. I had to help the airline find my wheelchair,” Ziv claims.
She shared that this experience highlights how people living with disabilities experience ableism.
“I’m really still processing what I’m living through every day since an airline broke my wheelchair over a month ago,” Ziv began.
She continued on to say that her wheelchair affords her strength, mobility, and independence which allows Ziv to live her life the way that she wants to.
“My wheelchair provides me with a sense of confidence that allows me to meet people, do my job, navigate the world safely and securely… and a lot more. Without that, I’m finding that I need a lot more help from people and my body is struggling. Without my chair, I’m finding that my life has really changed,” her post continued.
Ziv added that she believes airlines need to treat mobility aids differently than luggage, as they are high-priority items that people rely on.
In a separate post, Ziv claims that she is still waiting for Air Canada to approve the repair or replacement of her wheelchair, which she claims was broken over a month ago.
“I don’t know what’s the hold-up but it’s evident that no one at that organization understands the damage they’ve done to my quality of life. Every day they drag this along is one more day I’m without my proper mobility, health, and independence,” she shared, adding that breaking a mobility aid is the same as breaking someone’s legs, and should be treated with the same severity.
The News You Can Use team had the chance to chat with Mayaan Ziv to hear more about her experience.
“I called the airline ahead of the flight to ensure that I wouldn’t have an issue,” Ziv shared, adding that she took special care to ensure her mobility aid was properly wrapped and labeled to avoid damage.
“When I got off the plane I saw that my wheelchair was completely damaged,” Ziv shared, continuing on to say that she had to manage the situation struggling with mobility, using an airport wheelchair that did not offer enough support.
Ziv claims she was told she had to make a damaged baggage claim, and when she arrived at the airport desk, she found that many people were struggling with damaged luggage and equipment from the flight. But Ziv was unsure how she would even be able to leave the airport.
Mayaan Ziv Explains
Mayaan Ziv said that her wheelchair is now “broken beyond repair”. She claims the airport sent a crew who usually manage damaged luggage came to try and repair it, but her chair was still unusable.
Ziv said that her experience is not uncommon, and she herself has experienced issues similar to this before.
“The chair that was broken was actually bought by American Airlines, who had dropped my original chair nine years ago,” Ziv continued.
Ziv says that these issues are systemic, and there aren’t enough considerations and systems in place to support people living with disabilities while travelling.
Ziv said that Air Canada has approved her request to replace her chair. Ziv says her chair was broken on September 7th and months later, she still does not know when she will receive her new mobility aid.
Air Canada Responds
The News You Can Use has reached out to Air Canada for more information, including why there was an initial delay to Ziv receiving her wheelchair.
“We flew Ms. Ziv home from Tel Aviv on Oct. 3. Both Ms. Ziv’s mobility aid and the one we provided to her on a temporary basis arrived safely on her flight. Ms. Ziv’s temporary mobility aid was delivered to the gate for her immediate use upon arrival. There was a temporary delay in retrieving her second chair, in part because these devices are quite heavy, in excess of 400 lbs, and can require extra time to unload and deliver to customers,” the airline said in a statement.
Officials also confirmed that Ziv’s device was damaged upon arrival, and said they took full responsibility. They also claim to have worked with her to repair the damage.
“Yes, this was immediately agreed to. In fact, we arranged for a mobile wheelchair repair service to go to the hotel where the customer was staying in Israel before she left the Tel Aviv airport and we provided a substitute device at this time. We remain engaged with the customer on this issue,” the statement continued.
Air Canada officials continued on to say that instances of mobility aids being damaged are rare, and that they are not transported as regular luggage.
“We have protocols and extensive systems in place, recognizing the importance of these devices to their owners. This is why the vast, vast majority of the tens of thousands of people travelling with us who require such assistance travel successfully.”
The News You Can Use team has reached out to Ziv for comment and will continue to follow this story.
