Up To £1000 Return...Just To Breathe!

13/01/2010

Media Contacts: Bernadette Moore/Paul Pennington/ Hilary Franklin
media@phassociation.uk.com 020 7272 3915

PRESS RELEASE
SPOKESPEOPLE & CASE STUDIES AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW

Up To £1000 Return…….Just To Breathe!

New research reveals bewildering ‘lottery’ of charges, policies, discrimination & woeful customer service facing ‘fit to fly’ disabled air travellers requiring in flight supplemental oxygen.

Charity bosses are calling on airlines to stop penalizing passengers with breathing difficulties after ‘secret shopper’ research by national patient support charity, Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK (PHA-UK) with 71 airlines operating too and from the UK, unearthed a bewildering lottery of surcharges, policies & woeful customer service facing the estimated 90,000 potential ‘fit to fly’ disabled air travellers with lung conditions such as Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) or COPD who require supplementary oxygen in flight.

PHA-UK research conducted by the charity's members acting as ‘secret shoppers’ with 71 airlines reveals:

• Less than a quarter of airlines surveyed supply free supplementary oxygen.
• A quarter of airlines approached do not supply supplementary oxygen at all.
• Two thirds of airlines in the study would not allow disabled air travellers with lung conditions to bring their own oxygen for use in-flight.
• Of the airlines that provide supplemental oxygen to but charge for it, each levies a different fee ranging from £50 to £500 per trip!

Nick Ainger MP, who has championed the issue in Parliament via a Westminster Hall debate and has tabled EDM (606) on the concerns raised by the research, is extremely disappointed at the findings.  He said, "Six months after raising this in Parliament, the vast majority of airlines are still charging for supplementary oxygen and refusing permission for passengers to bring their own oxygen cylinders. They are taxing the disabled and discriminating against people who are fit to fly but have breathing problems.”

He added, “All airlines should now follow the good example set by some carriers who give disabled passengers free supplementary oxygen or allow them to bring their own cylinders or concentrators without charge.”

Commenting on the outcome of the secret shopper study conducted by PHA-UK’s disabled members, the charity’s Chairman, Iain Armstrong stated, “Since its inception 10 years ago, the Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK has provided over £60,000 worth of grants to people with PH to enable them to afford the ludicrously unfair charges levied by airlines for the provision of supplemental oxygen whilst travelling by air.  We could easily have doubled this amount if we had the financial strength to meet all the requests we’ve received. With the majority of airlines not allowing oxygen dependant passengers to bring their own supply they have no choice but to pay a substantial tax per flight to enable them to breathe.”

He added, “I was also alarmed to learn of the widespread negative attitudes towards our disabled secret shoppers and the knowledge gaps of airline personnel.  Sadly, all too often our researchers spent protracted periods of time ‘on hold’ and in some instances paying a premium rate for the privilege, speaking with an average of three different customer service staff and still not receiving the information they required.  Alarmingly, in too many instances airlines were only prepared to share their supplemental oxygen policy, if our secret shopper had bought a ticket to fly first.”

He concluded, “I believe disability rights are not about having different rights but equal rights and I call upon all airlines that provide and charge for in-flight supplemental oxygen to follow the example of British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Thomson’s and Emirates and drop these grossly unfair breathing taxes, for all airlines to allow passengers, who require supplemental oxygen to be able to use their own oxygen equipment in-flight and for the airline industry to urgently review and address the way they deal with disabled passengers, especially but not exclusively, people living who require supplemental oxygen in-flight.”

Calls echoed by the British Lung Foundation, who have been working closely with PHA-UK.  Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “Supplemental oxygen is as important to people with breathing problems as a wheelchair is to people who have difficulty walking.  This survey reveals the enormous challenges facing anyone who is dependent on supplemental oxygen and wants to travel by plane.  We need all airlines to make it possible for people who need oxygen and want to fly to be welcomed and helped in the same way as other disabled people, not to be penalised financially and treated as second class citizens.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:  PHA-UK Media Contacts: Bernadette Moore/Paul Pennington/Hilary Franklin/Elizabeth Hinchey media@phassociation.uk.com  020 7272 3915

IF YOU REPRODUCE ANY DETAILS FROM THE RESEARCH PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE CREDIT THE PULMONARY HYPERTENSION ASSOCIATION UK IN YOUR REPORT OR ARTICLE

A No 10/ Petition for the Prime Ministerhas been created to gain public support for the campaign  http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Breathefreely/

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK (PHA-UK) charity number 1120756 www.phassociation.uk.com provides support, understanding, and information for everyone whose life is touched by Pulmonary Hypertension (PH).

The British Lung Foundation is the only UK charity working for everyone affected by lung disease. The charity focuses its resources on providing support for people affected by lung disease today; and works in a variety of ways to bring about positive change, to improve treatment, care and support for people affected by lung disease in the future. It provides information via the website www.lunguk.org and telephone helpline 08458 50 50 20.

PHA-UK ‘SECRET SHOPPER’ RESEARCHER REFLECTIONS

53 year old Jane Taylor from Berkshire was diagnosed with PH in 2006. “The information from airlines was very difficult to obtain, with only a few exceptions.  Some of the Customer Service Representatives had no idea what I was talking about.  I had people say they would get people to ring back but never did.  The lack of knowledge by all was appalling.  Even the special assistance teams lacked the information required.  Most of them took longer than 20 minutes to find out the information”

55 year old Kathy Davis from Hampshire, who was diagnosed with PH in 2007, “There is a huge disparity between the airlines both in cost and the way they deal with potential disabled customers.  Some airlines were very helpful, the people who answered the phone knew the answers to the questions or could transfer me immediately to the right person.  Others were deliberately obstructive and would not give out any information until I had booked a flight and had the booking reference number.”

49 year old Bedfordshire mother of two Hazel Roberts, has lived with PH for over three years found.  “I discovered that the variation in service is immense and getting the information from most of the airlines was quite difficult as in general you had to be passed to someone else, usually ‘medical support’ type people who only seemed to work certain, very limited hours or were on holiday, lunch break etc.  Sometimes the person I was talking to didn’t know who to pass me to, on another occasion the airline put me on hold while they spoke to their head office, which happened to be in Sidney, Australia!”

60 year old Sonia Campbell from North London has diagnosed with PH in 2004, “I discovered that every airline had different polices/guidelines and prices.  Some were fairly clear and others baffling.  The final cost depending on journey could be high as the cost for a 2hour flight could be the same as a 10hour flight.  One required a passenger using oxygen to have someone flying with him/her.  Another required you to buy an extra seat for the oxygen!  I must add that the extra seat was at the price before added tax.  Information given was based on the booking being made first which could cause problems.  There were also restrictions as to how many oxygen using passengers can be on each flight.”

SUMMARY OF RESULTS:

*airline has a list of approved models
**POC can be used subject to meeting size restrictions & must be switched off on takeoff and landing
***on some aircraft - check at reservation
****information couldn’t be sourced at time of call(s) to airlines.  Awaiting written confirmation of policy details from airline.

Methodology:
PHA-UK’s researchers all live with Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) and were each provided with the verified contact details for the ticket reservation departments and a sample route for each of the airlines identified to fly from and too the United Kingdom. Fieldwork took place between the 1st of September and the 5th of October 2009. PHA-UK’s researchers all live with Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) and were each provided with the verified contact details for the ticket reservation departments and a sample route for each of the airlines identified to fly from and too the United Kingdom. Fieldwork took place between the 1st of September and the 5th of October 2009.

Associated Documents:
The Right To Breathe Free Report (pdf)