Edinburgh Airport to launch new App to facilitate easy assistance for passengers with disabilities

Dear Colleagues,

Edinburgh Airport has announced launch of an innovative 'Welcome App' to make the airport more welcoming to those living with disabilities. Created by Neatebox, the app is designed to allow passengers to personalize the assistance they require and request assistance from the airport in advance. 

The Edinburgh Airport passengers with Reduced Mobility team will then receive a notification letting them know that guests are on their way and will be sent extra tips on how best to aid the individual.

As per the Edinburgh Airport, the app is yet another provision they offer to ensure the airport is open and accessible to all, regardless of their needs. This Airport recently became the first airport in Scotland to be recognized as autism friendly. 

Speaking to Insider, Mr. Gordon Dewar, Edinburgh Airports Chief Executive, said, “It’s also good to work with local businesses and implement innovative approaches to passenger needs – we pride ourselves on being innovative and we are confident our accessibility will continue to improve with the introduction of Neatebox.” 

Research carried out by Euan’s Guide showed 92% of disabled people do not feel confident visiting new places due to concerns about accessibility. Neatebox want to help improve lives through the use of smart technology. They hope that the ‘Welcome’ app will help promote Scotland as the ‘epicenter of innovation’.

Gavin Neate, Co-Founder of Neatebox, responding to a question by EN4News about the inspiration behind the innovative app and why it is so important in a customer service environment, said, “When it comes to disability, we need to have so much more information now. Everyone likes to be interacted with differently. If you go up and you were instantly happy and friendly towards someone with autism, that might not actually be what they need. Therefore if we knew what somebody’s needs were before we met them, then that would be brilliant.  70% of people who are disabled have hidden disabilities. We generally think about providing service for people who have obvious disabilities – a blind person, a wheelchair user, someone with a walking cane. Things like autism, epilepsy and dyslexia – these are all disabilities a person has to self disclose. If you’re standing at a bank or if you’re in a hotel or a Starbucks queue, the last thing you want to do is talk to the person behind the counter and explain.” 

Neate added, “We don’t just want to help a disabled person get better service, we want to help the customer service person give better service.”

Read more  at EN4News 

CISF reiterates that Shifting from personal wheelchairs or removal of prothetic limbs not mandatory at Airports

Dear Colleagues,

Please refer to my earlier post titled "CISF amends guidelines to avoid humiliating security checks at Airports for people with disabilities" dated 14 October 2017 detailing the decision taken in a joint meeting of senior officials of CISF, BCAS, DGCA & stakeholders from different disability groups on 11 October 2017 which was also attended by the author.

However, complaints are still being received from different airports that the CISF officials are still unaware of this decision and insisting the users to shift from their personal wheelchairs to the airport wheelchairs to scan their personal wheelchairs. This has forced the CISF to issue the below clarification through this media report in Hindustan Times again. The circular is still not put in public domain by the BCAS though. The last circular cum PIB Press Release which is available in public domain dates back to the 28 March 2014 when "Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for Screening of Passengers with Special Needs and Medical Conditions" were issued. (These are also available on this blog at BCAS Security Rules.) 

Here is the news report from the Hindustan Times dated 09 March 2018

Removal of prosthetic limbs not mandatory for security checks at airports: CISF

As per earlier security norms, disabled passengers were shifted to wheelchairs during pre-embarkation frisking at airports.

New Delhi | Mar 09, 2018 

The CISF on Friday said it has decided not to ask differently abled passengers to take off their prosthetic limbs for security checks at airports across the country, except in rare cases when profiling necessitates such action.

The move is a part of new security norms to avoid inconvenience to such persons, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officiating Director General Alok Kumar Pateria said at his annual press conference in New Delhi.

CISF Additional Director General M.A. Ganpathy (incharge of airport section) said: “We have now instructed our personnel to visually inspect passengers wearing prosthetic limbs and only ask them for further scrutiny if initial profiling shows something amiss.

As per earlier security norms, disabled passengers were shifted to wheelchairs during pre-embarkation frisking at airports.

He said that the decision was taken in a meeting attended by CISF and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) officers a few months ago.

“The idea was to review the existing BCAS provisions which without compromising on safety make them disabled-friendly.”

Another CISF officer said that a prosthetic which does not have any foam padding cover under which weapon/explosive can be concealed and in which a steel rod is clearly visible, may be visually screened and undergo explosive trace detector checks without removal.

Only in rare cases where there is sufficient justification based on profiling of the passenger may x-ray screening be resorted to, he said.