TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving the United States airline industry's capacity to provide safe and dignified services to travelers with disabilities
T2 - Focus group findings
AU - McCarthy, Michael J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Accessible Public Transportation is funded under grant H133E030009 from the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) in the US Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Purpose.As a component of a training development project for intercity air travel providers, we investigated the capacity of the airline industry to meet the needs of travelers with disabilities by exploring: (1) the level of sensitivity among personnel to travelers' needs, (2) training currently provided, (3) areas in which additional training might be beneficial, and (4) organisational/systems-level commitment to dignified assistance to all travelers. Method.Forty-four airline/vendor employees participated in nine focus groups in four US cities. Groups were audio recorded and transcribed. A grounded-theory approach was used to develop a coding system which was then applied to transcripts to identify themes. Results.Factors influencing capacity grouped broadly into four areas: characteristics of the job/system, characteristics of current training, characteristics of providers themselves, and characteristics of travelers. At an interpersonal level, providers were empathetic and desired to provide dignified services. They lacked training and adequate equipment in some cases, however, and organisational commitment varied between companies. Traveler characteristics were also shown to impact service delivery. Conclusions.Results are promising but additional regulatory and organisational policies are needed to ensure quality services. Providers and consumers of intercity air travel services may benefit from the findings and recommendations of this study.
AB - Purpose.As a component of a training development project for intercity air travel providers, we investigated the capacity of the airline industry to meet the needs of travelers with disabilities by exploring: (1) the level of sensitivity among personnel to travelers' needs, (2) training currently provided, (3) areas in which additional training might be beneficial, and (4) organisational/systems-level commitment to dignified assistance to all travelers. Method.Forty-four airline/vendor employees participated in nine focus groups in four US cities. Groups were audio recorded and transcribed. A grounded-theory approach was used to develop a coding system which was then applied to transcripts to identify themes. Results.Factors influencing capacity grouped broadly into four areas: characteristics of the job/system, characteristics of current training, characteristics of providers themselves, and characteristics of travelers. At an interpersonal level, providers were empathetic and desired to provide dignified services. They lacked training and adequate equipment in some cases, however, and organisational commitment varied between companies. Traveler characteristics were also shown to impact service delivery. Conclusions.Results are promising but additional regulatory and organisational policies are needed to ensure quality services. Providers and consumers of intercity air travel services may benefit from the findings and recommendations of this study.
KW - Training
KW - Travel
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U2 - 10.3109/09638281003729540
DO - 10.3109/09638281003729540
M3 - Article
C2 - 22082072
AN - SCOPUS:81155124421
SN - 0963-8288
VL - 33
SP - 2612
EP - 2619
JO - Disability and Rehabilitation
JF - Disability and Rehabilitation
IS - 25-26
ER -