Closed petition Ban airlines and cruise liners from discriminating against disabled passengers

Closed on 4 August 2012

Aviation and shipping are currently wholly exempt from the disability discrimination provisions of Part 3 of the Equality Act 2010.
This exemption has been condemned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission as "perverse", and has led directly to the most appalling incidents of gratuitous discrimination against disabled passengers by airlines and cruise liners, with no safety justification whatsoever for the discrimination.
In the words of the Government's own consultation document: "Why should disabled people lose their civil rights when boarding a ship or plane?"
There is now EU legislation covering access to aviation (only), but this legislation contains many loopholes, and in any case does not apply at all to the provision of goods and services onboard.
We urge the Department for Transport to remove the exemption for aviation and shipping from the Equality Act, so that disabled passengers can fly and cruise with confidence on flights and cruises departing from the UK.