Sonali Tiwary
Canada’s transport regulator has ordered WestJet to eliminate a weight limit on mobility aids that it says creates an “undue barrier” for travellers with disabilities.
In a recent decision, the Canadian Transportation Agency said the country’s second-largest carrier must scrap its 300-pound cap on wheelchairs and other mobility devices before July 2027. The regulator told WestJet to use “spreader plates” to distribute a wheelchair’s weight in the cargo hold and to arrange alternative travel with other airlines in the meantime.
The case was brought by Winnipeg resident Steven Fletcher, a former federal minister of state for transport, after he was prevented from flying with his custom wheelchair on a Winnipeg-Toronto flight early last year. Fletcher said the cap has “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.”
WestJet set the 300-pound threshold in 2024 after a technical analysis of the maximum allowable weight per square inch for the cargo holds of its Boeing planes, according to a submission responding to Fletcher’s complaint. No other major North American airline applies such a low cap for Boeing 737 jets, which make up most of WestJet’s roughly 200-plane fleet, according to John Morris, founder of the advocacy group WheelchairTravel.org. The same limit is in place at B.C.-based Flair Airlines, which flies only 737s.
Last fall, the parents of a 14-year-old girl from Saskatoon were told she could not fly to Mexico because her specialised wheelchair exceeded the limit, even though she had flown with WestJet from Saskatoon before. In Fletcher’s case, he said he was forced to use a different wheelchair on his trip, causing pain and pressure sores that required medical attention.
American Airlines imposed a similar ceiling in 2020 before reversing it after a backlash led by Morris. WestJet said it had no comment because parts of the matter remain before the regulator, which is also weighing how much advance notice passengers using mobility aids must give the airline.
“Being able to move around your own country is not a service upgrade, and it is not a courtesy. It is a condition of citizenship,” Fletcher said.
Many routes are served by only one or two airlines, leaving limited options for passengers whose wheelchairs are barred. The agency said WestJet should have taken proactive steps to accommodate power wheelchairs rather than relying on the weight cap. For more on disability rights and access, see our coverage, and for broader policy news visit NewsPandit.
