Wheels Up for Some By Katrina Byrd

“Paging passenger Katrina Byrd!” And just like that, I was running dragging my roller bag behind me...

“Paging passenger Katrina Byrd!”

And just like that, I was running dragging my roller bag behind me. I was headed to Gate 19 in the Jackson Evers International airport in Jackson, MS. The vet opened late, airport security had to search me and now I was about to miss my flight.

I was two gates away, out of breath and my legs and arms were tired. I’m not going to make it. I did.

 I reached the gate seconds before the door closed. I rushed down the empty Jet bridge toward the fully boarded plane. Once I stepped aboard the aircraft, the flight attendant closed the cabin door. Relieved, I found my seat. 

Flanked by two unconcerned passengers, I realized my privilege. As a disabled(visually impaired), black woman who lives under the poverty line, I rarely think of myself as privileged. But, in this situation, I was very privileged compared to wheelchair users who board airplanes. I’ve heard the horror stories of airline staff mishandling  and breaking wheelchairs. 

Maceo Carter, advocate and person living with ALS, had a totally different experience than me, when he and his wife traveled to Denver to deliver a speech at a conference. “Airline crew broke my chair not once but twice,” Carter shares in his article - “People with severe disabilities(and our wheelchairs) fly at our own peril. I shouldn't be” which appeared in The Arizona Republic.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2022/07/20/being-reliant-wheelchair-shouldnt-mean-having-fly-dangerously/10090742002/
The challenges of flying with ALS also include performing security actions like entering the security scanner, removing shoes and raising your arms inside the security scanner. Challenges also include the trauma of expending humiliation and the burden of navigating life without your wheelchair.

According to the Air Carrier Access Act(49 U.C.S.C. 41705) - https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2021-title49/USCODE-2021-title49-subtitleVII-partA-subpartii-chap417-subchapI-sec41705 - airlines can’t discriminate against people with any disability. Under this law, the Department of Transportation(DOT) defines passenger rights as well as airline obligations. ttps://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/passengers-disabilities#:~:text=The%20Air%20Carrier%20Access%20Act%20

While this law applies to all flights and all disabilities, it is only a step toward equitable airline access for all. As we celebrate this step, we also understand that we need many more steps to make the friendly skies a successful experience for all. 


Katrina Byrd, writer and playwright living in Jackson, MS, received her MFA in Creative Writing from Mississippi University for Women. An emerging writer published in several magazines, Byrd is a six time Arts Commussion grantvrecipient. Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS) - 100% fatal- November 18, 2019, Dora - Katrina Byrd’s partner of 23 years - died on February 2, 2020, 76 days after diagnosis. A few weeks after Dora’s death, Byrd’s advocacy work began. For the past four years, Byrd has become fluent in telling hard and uncomfortable stories. With her business, Daily Flounce, Byrd offers virtual writing courses and coaching services for writers, creatives and advocates. With her Boa Flouncer alter ego, she inspires, motivates and spreads joy.