Flying can be challenging – the lines at security, the rush to get your bag into the overhead locker, following instructions on the inflight safety demonstration, being cooped up with strangers for hours. So, imagine what that experience must be like for travellers whose brains work in different ways?
Neurodiversity is a condition that tends to exist in the shadows, despite being widespread in the population. It’s estimated that one in seven in the UK have some form of neuro difference. Most common forms include autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), dyscalculia, dyslexia and dyspraxia.
Is the airline industry catering for these customer needs? It’s a hard one to answer, since identifying and helping passengers who do not display an ‘obvious’ physical disability is always going to be tough.
It’s a subject that takes centre stage in a session on Tuesday April 8 (13.05-14.00) at the Taste of Travel Theatre at this year’s World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) in Hamburg.
Personal experience
Scott Wylie, Chief Technology Officer for travel tech company TripStax, offers some interesting first-person insight. He travels frequently – India, Australasia and Europe are regular destinations – and was diagnosed as having ADHD in 2020.
“Over my many years of travelling I have developed coping techniques,” he explains. “I have to know as much information as possible in advance and everything has to be in order.”
He never checks in baggage, because he must always keep his belongings with him. If he lost anything, even for a few seconds, it would be a trigger. Therefore, his passport is always kept in the same place in his bag.
Wylie prefers to fly from his local airport, Norwich, because it’s small and he knows his way around. He even knows all the security staff by name. Having this kind of familiarity helps ease any anxieties about travelling.
When he flies from London Heathrow, he has to arrive three hours before the flight and needs to know the gate number. He always gets there early to be at the front of the queue.
For every flight, he will know the aircraft type and configuration and has to make sure he gets the same seat. “With Air India, it’s always 2D,” he explains. “If an airline has Business class seats that face backwards, I can’t do that.”
For this traveller, there’s a litany of must-knows before departure. To ease his anxiety, things like the location of USB ports, the shape of plug sockets and the reassurance of decent Wi-Fi all help. Knowing an airline inside-out – from what’s on the menu to the choice of in-flight movies – all shape his buying decision, he says.
Difficult path
Clearly, making life easier for those with neurodiversity is a key issue. Aviation Accessibility Consultant Christopher Wood, who will lead the Hamburg panel discussion, ponders if legislation may be the only way to tackle the unfairness that exists for some travellers.
“Up to 80% of passengers with disabilities have a hidden disability,” he says. “It is clear that this is not an invisible issue. Aspects like complex check-ins, confusing mobile apps, and unevenly accessible information may ostracise neurodivergent passengers and even contribute to information overload or more serious issues.”
Meanwhile, Steve Wickham, Global Head of Environmental, Social and Governance at Linstol, admits addressing inclusivity in air travel is difficult because of the huge range of issues to consider, from physical access and language barriers to mental health awareness and economic or cultural differences.
“There are also commercial and operational challenges to overcome as the need may only be for a small number of passengers,” he explains.
“We spend most of our time at Linstol making the passenger experience as enjoyable, luxurious and comfortable as possible. But for passengers with a disability or impairment, this is often not the case, and their experiences can be quite different – frustrating, disappointing and even painful.”
The whole package
In the complex supply chains of aviation, enacting change can be particularly difficult. Nutritional expert Melissa Adamski says caterers and airlines must put neurodiversity on their list of concerns too, given issues such as hard-to-open packaging can be a real trigger. “Many discussions focus on physical access in planes and airports but there are also elements of food service that can present challenges for people flying,” she says.
It seems the panel members agree on one thing; the need for more and closer collaboration. Vueling Chief Customer Officer Mel Berry cites the ‘Sunflower lanyard’, which acts as a clear identifier of a neurodivergent passenger, as an already significant step forward since it is widely recognised across society.
“Airlines face several challenges in making flying fully accessible to all customers but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to work on the customer journey to make improvements every day. This is an area where we can all work together to agree the best practices that can be adopted both in the air and on the ground.
“However, there is so much more that could be done to enhance the journey in the challenging and unrelaxed environment of air travel.”
