Enabled at Air France
|
Posted Date: 06/05/2008
Issue: Airline Handling International June 2008
Publication: Airline Handling International
From July 26, 2008, the managing body of each EU airport will become responsible for the provision of assistance to passengers with reduced mobility (PRMs) following the coming into effect of the second phase of EU Regulation 1107/2006 on the rights of PRMs when travelling by air.
Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation 1107/2006 became effective in EU member states a year earlier. These two Articles pertain to an airline refusing to carry a person on the grounds of disability or reduced mobility. In effect, an airline, its agent or a tour operator cannot refuse to accept a reservation for a disabled person or a PRM and cannot, similarly, refuse to embark such a person. There are exceptions to this rule on the grounds of safety, or the size of the aircraft or its doors, but there is still an obligation on the airline to reimburse the fare or reroute the passenger.
In the US, on the other hand, the Air Carrier Access Act has been in force for some time. The impact of this legislation has already had a far-reaching effect on airlines. Since US Congress passed the Air Carrier Access Act in 1986, there has been a prohibition on the discrimination by domestic and foreign air carriers against qualified individuals with physical or mental impairments. It applies only to air carriers that provide regularly scheduled services for hire to the public.
The legislation addresses a wide range of issues, including boarding assistance and certain accessibility features in newly built aircraft and new or altered airport facilities. Furthermore, the Air Carrier Access Act was amended with effect from April 5, 2000, to cover foreign air carriers operating in the US. Passengers may enforce their rights under the Act by filing a complaint with the US Department of Transportation, or by bringing a lawsuit in the Federal court.
The Air Carrier Access Act required the US Department of Transportation to develop Regulations to implement the Act so that people with disabilities are treated without discrimination. These Regulations were published in March 1990. The Air Carrier Access Regulations explain the responsibilities of all parties to air travel, including the passengers, the airlines, the airport operators and other contractors.
Against this backdrop of legislation in the EU and US, there is much activity in the airlines, at airports and amongst pressure groups to ensure that PRMs experience the same level of service as any other passenger. Air France has been a high profile pioneer in forging an independent path through this desire for equality of access to transportation by air and has extended this PRM assistance programme to an increasing pool of destinations.
Introducing Saphir
“Saphir is a service dedicated to assisting PRMs. It was Air France’s choice to put in place this service so that we make sure we meet the needs of these passengers and ensure that we have the correct information in the reservations files,” says Jean Pierre Lefebvre, Air France’s Corporate Coordinator for the Handling of Passengers with Reduced Mobility.
Every year, Air France carries 300,000 PRMs on its network. These passengers are offered adapted services tailored to make travel easier, including: assistance at check-in, the provision of a wheelchair at the airport, free transportation of a guide dog, free carriage of a PRM’s wheelchair, priority boarding, personalised in-flight service, assistance during the flight and a personal welcome on arrival.
But, says Lefebvre, the provision of the Saphir service by Air France depends largely upon communication between the PRM and the airline. The process is simple. At the time of booking, if the PRM wants to be automatically identified and to avoid having to provide information on his or her condition each time they book a ticket, they simply quote their Saphir card number which they receive free of charge. To date, over 6,000 Saphir cards have been allocated to customers. The card is a useful identifier of PRM need, but this card is not required to access Saphir services.
“In France, we have a special reservations service dedicated to Saphir,” remarks Lefebvre. “We have a team of about 30 people in Nice – although their location is not relevant – who only handle reservation information for PRMs. In other countries where Saphir has been rolled out, it is part of the reservation services and we have specially trained people to deal with the needs of these PRMs in these call centres. When a passenger calls Saphir in the call centre, the call is answered by a specially trained person to meet the needs of the PRM.”
By special training, Lefebvre explains that this entails the delivery of training on the differences between medical conditions, how to ask questions of PRMs, how to interpret the needs of PRMs and to have medical knowledge.
“Saphir staff makes sure that PRMs have expressed their needs in an accurate way and that we have correctly recorded these needs,” explains Lefebvre. “We send all this information to the assisting company in the destination airport and then it is up to the station manager to ensure the needs of the PRM are met by the correct assistance,” says Lefebvre.
Lefebvre concedes that there is a marketing benefit for Air France to offer PRM assistance in this way, but he comments: “When Saphir was set up in 2001, it was done so to ensure our PRMs would be correctly flagged up and the assistance provided by the assisting companies on the ground and the crew would be correct. Of course, Saphir is advantageous to the airline because PRMs know that when they call Saphir they are sure that they are going to receive a consistent service and they are going to receive the correct interpretation of their needs.”
Saphir was originally rolled out in countries in the EU, US and Canada. When asked why Air France initially tackled this issue in these two continents only, Lefebvre responds: “We have implemented Saphir where we have a significant number of PRMs and a significant need to ensure a better service. Last October we opened Saphir in India and gradually we plan to open other Saphir services, for instance in Asia and Australia.”
Training ground staff is also imperative if Saphir is to work appropriately. By way of example, Lefebvre explains the kind of result the training must deliver: “If the person at check in has in front of him or her a person in a wheelchair and an escort, it is important to remember that the person in the wheelchair is not sick. That person is able to understand what he or she is being told. The person doing the check in must speak to the person in the wheelchair and not to the escort.”
What next for Air France?
“Developing the Saphir service in other countries is only part of our plan,” confirms Lefebvre. “With the EU Regulation coming into full effect in July, we want to make sure that our PRM clients’ files are as correct as possible because, in the EU Regulation, there is an obligation on the airlines to provide airports with full information so they can determine which kind of assistance must be delivered to the PRMs.”
With so many parties involved in a simple journey by air, it makes sense for Air France to put so much emphasis on the distribution of PRM data. As Lefebvre emphasises time and again, Air France’s initiative in this area is not Regulation-led; it is simply a case of enabling effective ground operations and delivering an appropriate level of service to all passengers.
Related Headlines
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
Issue Advertisers
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
