Response to the Application for an Exemption under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 by Regional Express Holdings Limited (REX Airlines)

PIAC along with several organisations representing people with disabilities recently submitted a report on access to airlines to the review of the Disability Transport Standards, Flight Closed Report on the experiences of People with Disabilities in Domestic Airline Travel in Australia . In preparing this report, over 100 case studies were recorded and analysed according to the type of restriction and the airline response. The barriers described were then compared with the Australian, United States, Canada and European Standards. The attached submission to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s inquiry into the Rex Airlines exemption application is based on that report. A copy of the report Flight Closed can be found here. The results of the study undertaken for the Flight Closed’ report found that Australian practice is inconsistent with common international practices. PIAC’s general position is that the type of exemptions applied by REX Airlines would reinforce this discrepancy. If airlines of a similar size and aircraft can provide a service to all passengers, it is difficult to understand why this cannot be done in Australia.