An airline lost my wheelchair… that’s right, gone.

I was flying home to Detroit. I made it back, but my wheelchair didn’t.
At first, I was told it was lost. For over an hour, I sat in an uncomfortable airport-issued transport wheelchair, terrified. My wheelchair is an extension of my body that gives me independence, dignity, and mobility. Eventually, they found it: left on the jet bridge, 1,200 miles away in Florida. It never even made it onto the plane.

Before boarding, I did everything right. I double-checked that the tags were correct with staff, and trusted that my mobility device — my independence — would be handled with care. But the employee either wasn’t properly trained or didn’t check. This time my wheelchair was “just” delayed, but more than a handful of times it has been damaged while loading or unloading.. Sometimes it has been delivered to me so damaged it is completely unusable, or unsafe. Fortunately my wheelchair has been able to be repaired when damaged by airlines, even if it takes months for the repairs, and I’ve been able to have access to a second chair in the interim. Many others aren’t so lucky.

Every single day, 31 wheelchairs or mobility aids are lost or damaged by airlines in the United States. Thirty-one people, every day, lose their independence because of preventable airline negligence.

And now, it’s about to get worse.

In a September 2025 filing, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it will not enforce rules requiring airlines to be liable for mishandled wheelchairs, nor for other critical passenger protections like:

-Notifying passengers of their rights in writing when they are checking a mobility device 
-Reimbursing passengers using wheelchairs the difference between a fare on a flight taken and the fare the passenger would have paid on a flight if their wheelchair could have fit in the cabin or cargo compartment of a different aircraft
-Providing safe, customized loaner devices when damage occurs.

Why? Because these rules were made under a previous administration and the current administration disagrees.

Our rights as disabled passengers should not change every time the administration does. Accessibility and safety are not partisan issues. They are basic civil rights.

We need a permanent, bipartisan law, not a rule that can be easily undone, to protect disabled passengers’ mobility, independence, and dignity in air travel.

Our Demand:

We call on Congress and the Department of Transportation to:

Create permanent federal legislation protecting the rights of passengers with disabilities during air travel.

Ensure airline accountability for damaged or lost mobility devices while providing dignified treatment and accommodations to disabled passengers.

Standardize training and enforcement for all airline employees handling assistive devices and interacting/assisting with disabled passengers .

Why it matters:

Every person deserves the right to travel safely and with dignity.
This isn’t political. It’s about human rights, safety, and independence.

By signing this petition, you’re helping show Washington D.C. that we won’t accept our protections being rolled back. Together, we can make sure that rights on flights are protected by law, not left to change with politics.

Sign. Share. Speak up. Because no one should ever land without their mobility, freedom, or dignity.

Closing Note:

This is a sponsored petition, learn more here. This story and cause are deeply personal. I’ve advocated for disability rights online, through organizations, and on Capitol Hill for years. This petition reflects that work and our shared fight for equality in the skies.