Why this matters
Your wheelchair is not luggage, it’s your independence. Unfortunately, damage during air travel is still far too common, and most of it is preventable with the right preparation and communication.
This page explains how to prepare your wheelchair before a flight, what airlines need to know, and how to reduce the risk of damage during handling. These steps come from lived experience, airline knowledge, and lessons learned the hard way, so you don’t have to.
Concerns about damage during travel are completely understandable, and protecting your chair should never be an afterthought.
This guide brings together practical, experience-based advice on preparing your wheelchair for travel, reducing the risk of damage, and knowing what to do if something doesn’t go to plan.
Wheelchairs are medical mobility devices; they are not “luggage”. When they are damaged, people lose independence, safety, dignity, control and basic access to life. Damage is never a small inconvenience. It is life-impacting. Protecting your wheelchair before you fly protects your body, your safety, and your trip.
Before Your Chair Reaches the Airport
- Take clear photos: front/rear/both sides/wheels/brakes/power assist/SmartDrive/joystick/attachments.
- Save those photos in a folder labelled: Wheelchair, Condition Before Flight
- Add airline and flight number into the file name (if you can).
- Have one printed sheet or PDF clearly stating how your wheelchair folds, disconnects, and should be lifted.
Protecting Power Assist + Batteries
- Print/save the exact battery watt hours (Wh)
- Keep your Dangerous Goods battery approval in your phone
- Label your power assist cables, connectors and components
- If the battery or power-assist unit is removable, follow the airline’s Dangerous Goods requirements for whether it must remain attached, be removed, or be carried in the cabin.
Padding + Physical Protection
- Remove loose or easily detachable parts where appropriate, and keep essential removable items with you where permitted. Secure anything that needs to remain attached.
- Tape or secure moving elements
- Use pool noodles/pipe insulation to protect the frame
- Protect vulnerable components with appropriate padding or securing methods where practical, without interfering with safe handling, battery isolation or the wheelchair manufacturer’s instructions.
- Strap or Velcro loose components so nothing swings or snags
Label Everything Clearly
Add ONE single laminated A5 card to your wheelchair frame with:
- Safe lifting points and handling instructions specific to your wheelchair
- Never stack baggage on a wheelchair
- Never force a chair through narrow conveyor belts
- Contact phone number in case of issues
At Check-In
- Where airport and airline procedures allow, ask to remain in your own wheelchair until as close to boarding as possible.
- Use your assertive script: “This wheelchair is essential mobility equipment. There are a few handling instructions specific to it that I’d like to go through with you before it is handed over.”Damage puts my safety at risk.”
- Ask what temporary mobility assistance, repair arrangements or replacement options may be available while the damage is being assessed.
- If unsure, ask for a supervisor before handover
If Damage Happens Anyway
- Report the damage before leaving the airport if possible and ask for the incident to be formally recorded.
- Photograph the damage immediately.
- Write down the time of the incident and, where practical, the names or roles of the staff you dealt with.
- Ask for a reference or report number and keep a copy of any written documentation.
- Ask what temporary mobility assistance, repair arrangements or replacement options may be available while the damage is being assessed.
- Follow up with the airline in writing as soon as practical and keep copies of all correspondence and receipts.
