> as soon as the flight lands, people are miraculously "healed" and don't need a wheelchair any longer

The comment you're replying to talks about someone needing a wheelchair from time to time. Many people who use wheelchairs do not need them all the time.

A trivial example would be someone who can walk from the airport to a car when unburdened, but cannot stand in line for an hour while carrying luggage. The available assistance isn't necessarily individually tailored, so "I need to check a bag without extra charge and skip the security and boarding lines" is not an option, but a wheelchair is.

I was mainly replying to them saying that there is animosity towards disabled people ("people question why they needed a chair. They had people call them wheels in public..."). I haven't heard or seen it verbalized explicitly, with that one exception of airports, where people publicly mumble and mention it. I don't like to see it and I don't support that but that's what people do.

> A trivial example would be someone who can walk from the airport to a car when unburdened, but cannot stand in line for an hour while carrying luggage.

Of course. And not all disabilities are visible, either. It's better to have a few cheaters to abuse the system and provide more accommodation to people who need it than go the other way. But the way people are, even if they witness a small minority cheating, they'll start forming an opinion. As a rule, especially as far as I have seen, traveling and living with disabled people needing a wheelchair, most people are willing to help and are accommodating.

> they are creating animosity and suspicion in the general public who now feel anyone in a wheelchair in the airport is "cheating"

No. The faceless people who wrote the crap rules are doing that. Blaming people who use the system to their advantage doesn't fix the system.

I broke my toe just before flying from Portugal to London. I had crutches and was given a wheelchair in the airport. I technically could have walked, it just would have been extremely painful. When the staff at Luton told me that it'd be an hour before the passenger lift was ready, I decided "fuck it" and that I would walk down the stairs instead. One of the other passengers accused me of faking the whole thing, but I can assure you that I was not.

When I was a teenager my grandmother lived with us for a few years because she was unable to care for herself. Once we went to a museum as a family and my parents sent me and my brother to get a wheelchair for my grandma. When we found one I got in and had my brother push me. As a joke he started running and let go and I flew off the curb and crashed into the parking lot.

A lot of people rushed over to help and were quite upset when I hopped up and ran off with the wheelchair.

A lot of people cheat, but you also need to keep in mind most disabilities are not binary, but have degrees.

Many people may be able to get up the wheelchair and walk a little, but may not be able to walk a mile in the airport... Or may not be able to navigate the complicated airport environment.

I wouldn't even say a lot of people cheat. There are a few, but it is the vast minority.

> A lot of people cheat, but you also need to keep in mind most disabilities are not binary, but have degrees.

Exactly. And not all disabilities are visible either.

I was just replying to someone saying that there is animosity towards disabled people ("people question why they needed a chair. They had people call them wheels in public..."). I haven't heard or seen it verbalized explicitly, with that one exception of airports, where people publicly mumble and mention it. I don't like to see it and I don't support that but that's what people do.

I know someone who did what you describe, but in her case it was legitimate. She could walk, though slowly, but had great difficulty with ramps and stairs, and would be in pain for a couple days after standing for a long time, so genuinely needs help to get through airports.

Yes, me too. You should not assume someone who seems able to stand and walk unaided is not in need of assistance for longer periods. It can be a matter of scale, and there can be sudden tipping points.

The person I know is perfectly able to stand for a short while, or walk around a shop or food court for a couple of minutes carrying items with really no obvious problems. But navigating an airport all the way through, quickly making it to a connecting flight on the other side of a large terminal, or standing for minutes in a check-in line is basically impossible without days of pain afterwards.

> People in a wheelchair often get priority sitting. But to request a wheelchair doesn't require any proof.

If it becomes a big problem, you just switch it around, wheelchair-bound people get boarded last. Then the advantage of faking it is somewhat removed.

(Though for my personal experience, boarding first is kind of sucky unless you're in first and getting drinks.)

When I broke my toe, myself and the other people in airport wheelchairs started the boarding process first, but by the time the passenger lift had gotten us all onto the plane, everyone else was on board and in their seats. Depends on the airport but obviously in this case it's better for everyone if the wheelchair users get started first, as they are on the critical path for the plane departing.

It would vary tremendously depending on the boarding type and sequence and seat location; obviously a jet bridge boarding is different from a stairway/tarmac boarding.

I preboard my dad who can’t walk, I transfer him into his seat ahead of the whole plane seating passengers but he is the last to leave the plane as a trade off when they bring his wheelchair. Thankfully have not witnessed anyone pretending they can’t walk and leave first. They all have issues with their gait in my experiences in the US. Sure there might be some bad actors but it’s really sad if they are faking it having to be seen by the actually disabled folks who can probably tell.

My dad can’t even use the restroom on the flight cause he can’t stand, it’s truly hell for wheelchair bound folks. They deserve all the help and accommodations they can get to travel and live a normal, rich and fulfilling life like the rest of us able bodied folks.