Flying with severe FTD

[Hadi]

Hi all

We need to get my mum from the UK to Jordan where it is much easier and cheaper to get 24hr live-in care (my brother has been looking after mum for the last 2 years single-handedly).

My mum has severe FTD - she doesn't speak, is wheelchair bound, is doubly incontinent and very dependent.

She is however very placid.

I wondered whether any of you have experience of traveling with severely disabled relatives and what procedures or facilities you managed to organise with airlines, airports, etc.

I have spoken to BA and BMI who seem to think there is no problem getting her to the aircraft but there don't seem to be any special facilities on board.

Our biggest issue is going to be "changing" my mum as she is unable to use a loo and it isn't practical to get 2 people into the aircraft toilets.

The flight to Jordan is around 5 hours and this would be a one way trip.

Apologies for the long question but I've found this forum to be an immense help in the past.

Thanks in advance

Hadi

 

[Brucie]

Hello Hadi

well, you have an interesting challenge.

'interesting' for us - 'a reality' for you!

You have already done exactly the right thing in contacting the airlines, and they seem to have been helpful, which is good.

Did you specifically explain the problems to them - other than the wheelchair?

Clearly airlines deal with people who need wheelchairs on a frequent basis. However, double incontinence, inability to get to a toilet, possible confusion in a confined space, communications difficulties - these are added layers of difficulty.

I would go back to the airlines and ask whether they have experience and suggestions for someone who has these difficulties.

Broadly speaking it sounds as if boarding and disembarking may be less of a problem than the period of the flight itself.

It would be interesting if you could post their response on these questions here, too.

I hope there is a good solution for you.

 

[jenniferpa]

The last time I was on a plane (admittedly transatlantic) I was interested to see that at least one set of toilets had openable doors between them, which meant that you could join one toilet to the other and get one big one.

She will also (and the airline should provide this) need what may be called a transfer wheelchair - this is something thing that is narrow enough that it will fit up the aisle of the plane.

 

[Hadi]

Thanks Brucie

British Airways said that they have an aisle wheelchair which obviously allows for transport down the aircraft aisles, between the seats to the toilets at the front or rear.

When I asked about continence issues, they said that there is no way to provide any sort of privacy/dignity for changing pants,etc.

Their suggestion was to discuss with my mother's GP, the possibility of using a laxative before the flight make sure her bowel is empty.

I heard somewhere else, that using a mild sedative can also be useful and make the trip less potentially stressful for my mum (unfortunately, she can't give us any signal as to whether she's stressed).

Our next step is to talk to the GP/health visitor I think.

 

[Hadi]

@Jennifer

Thanks for your reply - it came in just as I was composing the last reply!

The airlines said there'd be no problem getting my mum from the terminal building to the plane via various wheel chairs and electric golf cart style buggies.

Once on the plane, my mum's now so light, it's very easy to lift her out of a wheelchair and into a plane seat.

I'll make sure to ask about the interconnecting WCs but I fear the planes to Jordan are too small to have these. I came back from Jordan yesterday and I'm pretty sure the plane had just 4 tiny WCs at the rear (I didn't get to see the business class ones unfortunately!)

I flew Royal Jordanian and I did notice that the first/business class seats had a lot of room around them - it's a shame there's no way to screen individual pairs of seats.

 

[jenniferpa]

What about crew rest seats? They normally have drop down curtains. Of course, again, I'm going on the basis of transatlantic flights - they may not exist on shorter haul flights.

If you have a look on seatguru.com and you know the airline/type of plane you can get an idea of the sort of space the toilets are allocated.