Sophie Morgan has been branded a “troublemaker” by airline executives after campaigning to improve air travel for disabled people.
The presenter is the driving force behind the Rights on Flights campaign, which calls on the British government to make flying more accessible for people with disabilities, after Sophie’s wheelchair broke down three times in just one year on flights.
She is campaigning for more rights for disabled people on planes after her Channel 4 documentary Sophie Morgan’s Fight to Fly, airing on Monday night, exposed the inhumane way wheelchair users are treated on board.
But after exposing her own poor treatment and speaking on behalf of her large following, who she said had been messaging her en masse about their difficult experiences, Sophie, 39, became even more “exasperated” by the attitude of airline bosses.
The Loose Women panellist says that the reluctance to make changes has led to disabled people not flying at all. She hopes that the government and new legislation will not only address this, but that aircraft will be designed differently in the future.
Sophie Morgan has been branded a ‘troublemaker’ by airline bosses after campaigning to improve air travel for disabled people
The TV presenter is the driving force behind a campaign called Rights on Flights, which is calling on the UK government to make flying more accessible for disabled people after Sophie’s wheelchair broke down on flights three times in just one year
She is campaigning to give the disabled community more rights on planes after her Channel 4 documentary Sophie Morgan’s Fight to Fly, which airs on Monday night, exposed the inhumane way wheelchair users are treated on board.
Sophie told MailOnline: ‘Last year my wheelchair broke down three times, even when I was campaigning.
‘I’m very upset about the attitude of the airlines now, the amount of air I’ve been given and I’ve been told through the grapevine how much of a ‘troublemaker’ they think I am. I just think… okay, but I’m the right kind of troublemaker.
‘I’m not just doing this so I can go on vacation, but for the countless people who have messaged me every week since I put my head above the parapet and said, “I need your help” or “I don’t want to fly” or “My kids are too scared” or “My son is in a wheelchair and he can’t get out of his wheelchair, so now he can’t fly.”
“The consequences of ableism in this industry is that countless disabled people do not fly. Every human being has an access requirement and the fact that the airlines do not seem to cater to the needs of anyone other than one particular body type makes it so difficult for everyone.”
Sophie’s documentary for Channel 4 sees the TV star send a group of disabled friends undercover on flights from the UK to various destinations in Europe, while capturing the difficulties they face on camera.
The findings revealed the airlines’ “dangerous” and “unsafe” behavior, as well as the “undignified” way in which disabled customers are treated, including having their wheelchairs confiscated when boarding and being placed in a machine that is not designed to meet their individual needs.
Disabled passengers are even forced to starve and ‘dehydrate’ themselves because they cannot use the toilet due to lack of accessibility and support.
In a shocking scene, a man in a wheelchair was forced to sit on the floor of a Whizz Air plane and propel himself with his hands to go to the toilet because there was no aisle seat available.
Sophie’s Channel 4 documentary sees the TV star send a group of disabled friends undercover on flights from the UK to various destinations in Europe, while capturing the difficulties they face on camera
Disabled passengers are even forced to ‘starve’ and ‘dehydrate’ themselves because they cannot use the toilet due to lack of accessibility and support.
Sophie has been disabled since she was 18 years old, when she was in a car accident and was left paralyzed from her chest down to her knees. She was told she would never walk again.
Since then, she has built a successful television career and this summer she will become the first woman in a wheelchair to present the Paralympics for US broadcaster NBC, following her recent move to Los Angeles (photo May 2023)
Sophie explains: ‘At the moment, the way an aircraft is designed is completely discriminatory.
‘Our wheelchairs and mobility aids must be removed at the aircraft door upon arrival. This does not happen with any other form of transport.
‘The reason it’s so dangerous – and I say dangerous on purpose and I would even go so far as to say abuse – is because not only are we being taken out of our devices, which are usually custom-made for us, but we’re being put into other wheelchairs to take us on board an airplane. These wheelchairs are very small and not very well designed.
‘You often feel like you’re going to fall, and you often do. You’re afraid of getting hurt, and by the time you get to your seat, if you’re lucky, you’re the first one on board, so you have some dignity and privacy. And that doesn’t always happen…
‘The other day I was the last to go on board and everyone was looking at me and staring, it’s all very undignified, but you can’t move around the cabin if you’re someone like me. Both your body and your gear are at risk because it’s out of sight.
“We starve ourselves and become dehydrated on board because we can’t go to the toilet, or our wheelchairs get lost or damaged. So many of us have ignored these problems or simply refuse to fly because it is so difficult.”
Sophie has been disabled since she was involved in a car accident at the age of 18. She was left paralyzed from the chest down and was told she would never walk again.
Since then she has built a successful television career and this summer she will become the first woman in a wheelchair to present the Paralympic Games for US broadcaster NBC, following her recent move to Los Angeles.
The activist hopes that Fight to Fly will not only expose the “appalling” conditions that disabled pilots have been forced to endure for decades, but also push for improvements in aircraft design and training of airline personnel.
The activist hopes that Fight to Fly will not only expose the “appalling” conditions that disabled pilots have been subjected to for decades, but also push for improvements in aircraft design and the training that airline personnel receive.
Sophie said: ‘I am very grateful that the cameras have been monitoring this situation, because I have been dealing with this for 20 years, and many others have been dealing with it for as long as there have been planes.’
‘For us it’s not news, but for many others it’s so revealing and revealing and shocking and sometimes really quite horrible. But for us it’s normalized and understood.
‘When I go back, the main reason I got into television was because I became disabled at 18 and I realized how our life experiences are overlooked by other people. I kept looking around and saying, ‘Does everyone know we’re dealing with this?’
“We want to see aircraft design improved and we need training. We want to make sure that anyone who interacts with a person with a disability gets training on how to better interact with us and our equipment.
“I won’t go into too much detail, but we are finding a solution, which is so exciting. The prototype that is coming out soon will change our lives for the better.
‘A lot of people who watch the documentary will say “well it’s a plane”, like we do with old buildings in the UK. People say “you can’t expect there to be access”… But no, what’s more important? A plane or a person?’
- Sophie Morgan’s Fight to Fly airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4