Deaf/HH Infusion
Airport Accessibility: Palm Springs Edition
By Anna Phillips, California H&V
One February, I had the opportunity to travel from Northern California down to Palm Springs for my grandfather’s 80th surprise birthday party. Traveling there and back was one for the books. For a hearing person, this might have been an annoying experience, but for me, as a Deaf adult, this was an extremely frustrating trip.
Flying out of San Francisco International into Palm Springs International was not only delayed, but my departing airport got moved from San Francisco to San Jose. There, I was put on a waiting list for the flight I had purchased. On the way home, there was a big windstorm on the coast of California grounding all flights. My flight home was delayed 8 hours. I realize that passengers need to understand there are often delays with travel. Plans can change at the drop of a hat. Passengers need to be ready for this, and trust that they will get home safely one way or another.
What made this trip so difficult for me? Getting information in real-time about flight changes was impossible at the small airport in Palm Springs.
When I arrived for my return flight from Palm Springs back to San Francisco, I got a notification from the United Airlines app that the flight had been delayed 1.5 hours. No problem, I thought, as I lined up to get a cup of coffee. When I sat down and waited the time out, I looked around the small airport and realized that the gates were roughly 30 feet away from each other. Every time there was an announcement made, all passengers looked up. While I can hear that something is being said on the loudspeakers, the words themselves are fuzzy. It was immediately clear that either the airport was giving a general announcement to all passengers, or everyone was trying to figure out if the announcement was coming from their own gate. Fearful that my own flight was being delayed again, I got up from my seat to stand in line for 20 minutes to ask the agents what was happening. I had to do this three or four times since there was no other way to know for sure what was going on.
Finally, hungry, tired, and frustrated, I discovered that my flight was cancelled again due to a flat tire (and they had to drive in a spare tire from LAX — in rush hour). I broke down. I had spent about an hour standing in line simply to find out information that others had heard long ago through the loudspeaker. There was no monitor with live updates, live flight change times, or any other related information. There was not even a sign up to indicate boarding groups. I lost it. With several more hours delay, I texted my aunt I had been staying with and asked her to pick me up.
My “bulldozer Aunt” had taught me never to back down when something is not right or accessible to me. When she arrived, she helped me find someone at the United Airlines desk who was willing to text me updates so I would know when to come back. (The United app was not updating in real time). Upon learning more of my struggles, she immediately encouraged me to visit the administrative desk. We requested to speak to someone and got the Assistant Director of Aviation for the airport. I shared my experience and frustration of lack of accessibility to information in real-time. I explained how I had to find ways to get the same information and how much time and energy it took. I shared how other airports have different ways of sharing this information and how it is helpful not only for Deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) individuals but also for all passengers. He pushed back, stating that the arrival/departure times are controlled by a 3rd party company. I explained that screen wasn’t the problem, but rather each flight had information that was shared through the loudspeaker but not with me. It was a long and eventually a productive conversation once he understood my point of view.
The next day, when back home, I discovered that my Aunt, a City Councilwoman in Oregon for her hometown, my Uncle, who resides in Palm Springs, and a close friend of mine who has family who resides in Palm Springs all submitted a letter on my behalf to Palm Springs City Council and the Mayor to request that accommodations be revisited due to lack of DHH accessibility and information at Palm Springs Airport. I immediately wrote my own account of the day’s incident, requesting that they consider adding technology to improve communication and information accessibility for DHH adults (and all passengers), and offered my support in doing so. We each got a personalized response via email from the Interim Mayor of Palm Springs stating that she would look into it.
A negative experience (surely triggered by hunger and fatigue, but honestly who hasn’t been there?) was enriched by a community who saw the impact and frustration of one person. We were able to come together with a single message: improve accessibility at a small airport. If enough comments are made, and reinforcements are submitted, action can be taken to improve the next passenger’s experience. Resolution is always possible. I am happy to say that Palm Springs is an example for accessibility now, despite its small size. ~
Editor’s note: The author services on the CA H&V Professional Advisory Board.
H&V Communicator – Summer 2020