Hawaiian Airlines provides special assistance to passengers with reduced mobility

If you are traveling with Hawaiian Airlines as a passenger with reduced mobility, you are entitled to free assistance at airports when departing from and arriving on your flight, as well as in transit, although to receive this assistance you must notify your needs at least 48 hours before departure and explain what type of assistance you need. For quick and easy booking, Hawaiian Airlines has set up a special number to contact agents to help you make your seat reservation on the plane: 1.8007.784.838 ou 1.8004.559.880.

Customs and security checks

After checking in for your Hawaiian Airlines flight, a support agent will pick you up through security and take you to the departure lounge. This agent will sometimes ask you to leave your chair to transfer you to a loaner chair belonging to the airport.

Know that it is your full right to remain in your own chair until the departure lounge, even if the agent tells you otherwise. Do not hesitate to do so because your chair will undoubtedly be much more comfortable than the one at the airport! However, depending on the configuration of the airport, this may not be possible.

Regarding the controls, it is not possible to cross the metal detection gate in a wheelchair because it is too narrow. You will therefore be taken through a wider door on the side, after having asked you to remove your personal effects likely to trigger the alarm: jacket, coat, bag and sometimes even your shoes (unless they are orthopedic).

Specify if you wear a waist belt, an insulin pump or a pacemaker and do not forget your prescriptions and valid certificates.

More classic, you will have to deposit metal parts such as your keys, your change, your belt in a tray, and in a separate tray electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, cameras.

Finally, liquids must not be transported in containers of more than 100 ml, creams and aerosols included (unless they are put in a transparent plastic bag available at the entrance to the filter inspection station (“PIF” for the intimate).

Protect your electric wheelchair

If you are traveling with a collapsible wheelchair, it will probably be placed with you in the aircraft and you will not have to worry about it.

In the case of an electric wheelchair, it will be taken in the hold and treated like luggage, with more or less care depending on the staff… It may be wise to protect your wheelchair by wrapping it in bubble wrap and/or plastic film (protect the joystick well too). Previously, remove the removable parts such as the headrest, the footrests and the anti-decubitus cushion: you will take them with you on board, for greater safety.

Once your wheelchair is protected, affix “Fragile” labels on it as well as an easy-to-use manual, in French and English, to indicate how to use it. As a precaution, take photos of your chair to have proof of its condition before boarding.

Please note that if you wish to protect your chair, you will then have to ask to be transferred to a manual chair at the airport, so that you can then wrap your chair. Personally, we have never done this and have only encountered two minor incidents on all of our flights. But anything can happen and it is up to everyone to take precautions.

During the check, officers may use a hand-held detector or perform a hand search of you and your wheelchair. Do not hesitate to warn them if you cannot move your arms when they ask you to raise them.

Check-in at the counter

It is recommended to arrive at the airport 2 hours before your flight. Report your arrival to one of the contact points made available to you. This may be a reception kiosk, a reception desk or the check-in counter of the airline you are traveling with.

Passengers usually come to us directly at the company’s counter. This is all the more practical as there is always a priority queue reserved for passengers in need of assistance. To proceed with your check-in, the person at the counter will complete a form for transporting the wheelchair, indicating the following information:

– The type of wheelchair (manual or electric);

– The brand of the chair;

– The type of battery and how to deactivate it during the flight.

A label will be affixed to your wheelchair, just like baggage that goes in the hold. The person at the counter will then notify the assistance service that you are there and will ask you to wait in a dedicated space while waiting for an agent to arrive.

If you are having difficulty obtaining the assistance to which you are entitled during your trip, inform the managing body of the airport or the airline. If you are not satisfied with the response received, you can contact the competent national body.