WestJet ordered to scrap weight cap on power wheelchairs

WestJet is imposing an "undue barrier" on travellers living with a disability by effectively barring some power wheelchairs from its planes, says Canada's transport regulator.

In a recent decision, the Canadian Transportation Agency said the country's second-largest carrier must scrap its 136-kilogram (300-pound) weight cap on mobility aids before July 2027.

WestJet should use "spreader plates" to better distribute the wheelchair's weight in the cargo hold and arrange alternative travel with other airlines until then, the regulator said.

The case was brought before the transportation agency by Winnipeg resident Steven Fletcher, a former federal minister of state for transport, after he was stopped from flying with his custom wheelchair on a flight between Winnipeg and Toronto early last year.

He and other advocates say the weight cap has curtailed air travel in parts of the country and discriminated against people living with a disability.

"They have stigmatized and alienated and excluded an entire population of Canadians — through no fault of their own — just because of some arbitrary number which doesn't hold up," Fletcher said in an interview with The Canadian Press this week.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/westjet-weight-cap-9.7314171