A relative who is mobility handicapped plans to fly alone in the near future and is concerned about TSA lines. What sort of help, ideally wheelchair, could be expected or arranged upon arrival at the airport (BWI). Is it reliable under the present circumstances? Overall, what should be expected.

You relative can contact his/her airline and request wheelchair service. He/she may have to wait a few minutes after arrival at the airport for the SkyCap with a wheelchair picks him/her u. Once met, the SkyCap will escort your relative through TSA, again you relative may encounter a short delay at the TSA checkpoint but generally passengers in wheelchairs are moved to the head of the line rather quickly. You can find more info regarding wheelchair assistance at BWI on the airport’s website ( https://bwiairport.com/flying-with-us/accessibility/ ). Scroll down the page to the section titled “Wheelchair Service”.

My DH uses a wheelchair in airports, as he can't walk the distances involved. He either pre-books a wheelchair when he books the flight, gets a sky cap when he arrives at the airport, or requests one at the check-in counter. Usually it's a shorter line at TSA, and he gets pushed to the gate area and then to the aircraft door. We always give the wheelchair pushers a tip for their trouble.

Wheelchair service should not be affected (they are not Federal employees). It is the TSA lines that may be a concern - and that is very airport-specific. Some are seemingly close to normal, and some are severely impacted. One problem is that in many airports the PreCheck √ is not currently in use. So it may take more time but they would be seated

My partner has been using wheelchair service at airpots for the past couple of year and it has been an incredible help.
An added benefit for the companion traveler is that that person (me) benefits as well.

We book the wheelchair when we book our flights; there are options for people that need only chair to reach the entrance to the plane, and others for those who need help being seated on the plane.

He walks himself to the check-in counter, but if this were not possible, one could ask for help upon arrival outside the terminal.

Once at check-in, the agent phones for a wheelchair and the traveler is given the boarding pass and directed to nearby seating area--a few steps away. There you give your name and must wait for the "pusher" to retrieve you; this can take as long as 30 minutes.

Based on our experience, the "pusher" will get you seated in the chair, and place your carry-ons in the space under the seat, or hang it from the arms of the chair. If you have several carry ons, you may be asked to hold a small item (backpack or purse0 on your lap. You hand your boarding pass, and sometimes, your passport, to this person who uses it to get you through the security process.



From there, (and this is for people with pre-check/Global Entry and maybe for all chair-bound persons) you are brought to the front of the security line to join fellow chair-bound persons ahead of you.

The "pusher" will lift your bags and place them in the trays to pass though the machines, and retrieve them for you. It's usually only a minute or two before you either get up and walk through the X-ray machine or if you cannot, are pushed through while seated in the chair. Your companion stays with you during this process and can keep an eye on the belongings as they pass through the machines...


From there, your route depends on the time of boarding. If time is short, you are taken to the gate and brought to the front of the line and then to the door to the plane, where (in our case) the traveler then walks to his or her seat with the assistance of the flight attendants. Those people will lift the carry ons into the overhead compartments, and they will retrieve same upon arrival.

If you have time before boarding and have lounge access (elite status, business class tickets, etc) you will be pushed to the lounge, pass the entry formalities, and brought to a seat within the lounge. You let the "pusher" know the time at which you would like to be taken to the gate for boarding. You will sit in the lounge and if able, take advantage of the food and drinks on offer, either by walking the buffet counters or by requesting a server to bring you a snack or drink.


At the time you've requested earlier the pusher will arrive at the lounge with a chair and bring. you to the gate; sometimes this requires boarding train or shuttle but you do not have to worry about any of that...

And then you are on your way.

Process is repeated on arrival, when you are requested to wait until others debark or until your"pusher" arrives with your chair......

And then it's in reverse-pusher brings you through immigration and to baggage claim and then out onto the taxi line of area for car pick up. There are always elevators, although sometimes the location of these would not be obvious to the able bodied.

In some airports (Madrid, for one) there are a series of people who help you: You leave the plane onto a little bus that will drive you to the baggage claim, thus avoiding the shuttle train between terminals. There might be.a series of hand-offs, like a relay race, and you go from pusher to pusher.......it's fascinating how they have this down.

If you have a connection, same thing----go through immigration--front of the line,,and on to your connection, or to the lounge if you have access and enough time....

It's wonderful to have these services because without them, many people would not be able to travel by air unless they had some kind of hired personal aide...and even then....who knows...

As for tipping, we do tip in the US; if the same pusher says with us from counter to plane, my partner gives $10US.
We do not tip in European airports and I would be curious if others who read this do so, or not...,

Wheelchair services were not affected by the US government recent shutdown..all proceeded as normal when I flew to Europe two weeks ago.

Tipping might not be a "thing" in Europe, but we always give the "pusher" 5 pounds or Euros, as they do work hard, pushing us and getting luggage off the carousel. They always seem thankful, and we have never heard "no thanks"

Update: After seeing the loooong tsa lines on tv, she skipped the trip, eating the non refundable fare. They could not guarantee a wheelchair would be readily available given the large volume of travelers. She thought of buying a travel chair for the trip and she has a cane that has a built in seat of sorts but finds it difficult to use. Bottom line, the trip wasn't worth the hassle.

Thank you for your thoughtful replies.

I hope she cancelled the ticket before the departure time. Doing that would probably get a credit with the airline to use for travel up to one year from the purchase date.

As mentioned above it is a matter of pre-booking the wheelchair and, with the current situation, getting there plenty early. The pre-booking doesn't guarantee availability at any particular time.

She sh/could get TSA Pre-Check (or Global Entry). A wheelchair will go to the front of that line, ime.