Passenger kept from boarding after Jetstar’s refusal to assist with wheelchair makes discrimination complaint

A passenger with a disability has lodged a discrimination complaint after he was turned away at the gate when trying to board a Jetstar flight in Sydney.

Tony Jones, who suffered a spinal cord injury after falling off a balcony at the age of 18 and has since relied on a wheelchair, said he had contacted the airline to organise assistance in advance of his flight to Ballina in May last year.

But at Sydney airport the airline refused to help him transfer from his custom electric wheelchair into an "aisle chair" - a narrow wheelchair that Jetstar requires passengers to use to be taken to their seat on the plane.

"When I arrived they just said, 'No, sorry, we don't actually have anyone here to do that,'" Jones said.

As he was travelling on his own, he had no one to help him transfer into the aisle chair and was left stranded at the airport, unable to access the flight he had booked.

Jones, who works as a policy and advocacy manager at Spinal Cord Injuries Australia, said Jetstar offered to put him on a later flight, when it could organise a chair transfer, but since he was planning to return the same evening that was of no use.

He claims Jetstar broke its policy of requiring staff to transfer passengers into an aisle chair - which does not allow its occupant to move it and needs to be pushed from behind. Jones said other airlines allowed passengers to board a flight in their own wheelchairs.

"The treatment I received effectively means only people who are physically able to move themselves between wheelchairs or obtain assistance from an accompanying passenger can be confident they will be able to get on a Jetstar flight," he said. "That's a major barrier for many people."

Jones has lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and said he knew of countless similar stories, illustrating a broader lack of compliance with disability standards in the airline industry.

Jones said his only way to seek recourse was through the human rights commission, given the lack of enforcement in how airlines and airports complied with their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act.

"Going to the human rights commission is really the only way I can get this properly addressed, because the first step is mediation and it brings you and the carrier together," Jones said. "No one else is policing it."

Jones said he hoped his complaint would act as a test case to draw attention to the fact that "air travel should be accessible to everyone and when airlines have a policy, they need to honour it".

"There is no concerted or consistent approach among airlines and airports in how people in wheelchairs are helped, so you're left with people who are on their own, and they have to deal with any issues on an individual level.

He lodged his complaint with the commission in November, amid long delays. Last month his complaint was allocated to a conciliator.

A Jetstar spokesperson told Guardian Australia "we are aware of the complaint and will fully participate in the AHRC's process".

"We take the accessibility, safety and comfort of customers who require specific assistance seriously and regularly review the processes and support we provide them," the spokesperson said.

Guardian Australia recently reported the experience of French national Simon, who was left in an airbridge at Sydney airport with his young family for more than an hour, as his airline failed to provide the wheelchair assistance he had organised in advance.

Guardian Australia has since been contacted by scores of other travellers who use wheelchairs and have struggled to access their flights. Many said Australian airports compared poorly with some of their overseas counterparts, and complained that services had deteriorated as the aviation sector struggled to return to pre-Covid capacities.

Jones said "systemic issues" had long plagued how people with a disability fly, but believed that "some of these assistance processes seem to have broken down in recent times, and I'm sure it's because of the current lack of staff in aviation, as these are the people there to assist you".

Most foreign airlines contract ground handling operators to provide wheelchair services for passengers at Australian airports.

Erin Turner Manners, a senior solicitor at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre - which is representing Jones - said he was "one of many passengers who have encountered poor treatment, including effective denial of service, trying to access air travel as airlines and airports continue to fail people with disability".

Turner Manners said there were low levels of industry compliance with the disability standards - government legislated minimum accessibility requirements that apply to public transport. She said enforcement mechanisms were weak, and there were few options to seek recourse.

"The onus is on individuals to make discrimination complaints under the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) to the AHRC and if the complaint is not resolved to file a claim in the federal courts. This can be a really protracted process leaving people with disability stranded by both the airlines and the system," Turner Manners said.

Jones's complaint will go to conciliation ahead of another high profile complaint the from former disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes, who said he was humiliated when Adelaide airport security stopped him from walking through an X-ray scanner with his guide dog.

The federal transport minister, Catherine King, said she was "very concerned by reports of airport access and assistance issues impacting Australians with disabilities".

"It simply isn't good enough," she said.

King said the government was "fully committed to further removing discrimination for people with disability in safely accessing public transport". Reforms to the disability standards for accessible public transport are currently out for consultation.