Improving the Quality of Life for Disabled People

Disabled passengers want to travel and wish to do it on their own. “Our objective is to guarantee them their respective right and to do our best to ensure their safety and convenience when using air transport. This is a comprehensive objective. It is important to combine the efforts of business, the state, and the non commercial sector to create a barrier-free environment for disabled passengers, for whom it is of crucial importance,” says Olga Pleshakova, Chief Executive Officer, Transaero Airlines.

According to the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, there are almost 14.5 million disabled people in Russia, equaling a tenth of the country’s population. That means that the problems of disabled people concern every fourth family.

In the Russian capital alone, there are 1.2 million disabled people, and most of them are young with active lives. The low level of accessibility to transport for disabled people is a serious problem that relates not only to the issue of limited mobility, but also to the ability of people to live full lives. The development of products and services for disabled people allows the airline to expand this service offering to other passenger categories with special needs, for example the elderly and parents with children.

Transaero Airlines considers tackling the issues that relate to the mobility of disabled people as its priority, both in terms of service quality and its social policies.

Since 2008, Transaero has been implementing a comprehensive social program, the key purposes of which are to contribute toward improving the quality of life of disabled people, enhancing accessibility to transport, and creating barrier-free environments for disabled passengers.

When implementing the program, Transaero Airlines set the following objectives:

• create the maximum level of comfort for independent travelers with disabilities;
• establish close partnerships with public associations for disabled people to appraise and improve the standards of service;
• establish a system of monitoring and feedback by engaging disabled passengers who have used the company’s services;
• arrange an information campaign to draw public attention to disabled people’s problems;
• facilitate independent traveling and tourism for disabled clients.

When implementing this program, Transaero takes a comprehensive approach that includes the following principles.

1. Transport accessibility

This area is directly related to services provided by airlines for disabled passengers. In order to improve the services provided for passengers with disabilities, Transaero has purchased expensive equipment, for example unique aviation beds for transporting bedridden patients with severe conditions. To maintain this equipment, Transaero sends its technicians along on the flight, with all expenses covered by the airline. In addition, the company provides disabled passengers with special wheelchairs, enabling them to move about in the cabin on all types of company aircraft.

Transaero actively implements advanced technologies to facilitate traveling for disabled people (mobile check-in, selfservice check-in, etc.). Transaero also engages its business partners in tackling the transport accessibility problems of disabled people. In 2011, Transaero and Moscow Domodedovo airport developed a corporate standard of service for disabled people. The standard sets forth general principles of service that are offered to disabled people and describes the travel technology for this special category of air passenger. The standard envisages a mandatory program for training and upgrading the skills of the airline’s and the airport’s staff when servicing disabled people.

2. Employee training

All aviation specialists have to attend the trainings in customer service and the technologies of transportation used for people with disabilities. The training courses meet international standards; they use special methodology and training software.

With the support of experts from Perspektiva, a disabled people’s organization, the company holds special trainings and seminars for the staff to establish proper communication with clients with various disabilities. These trainings are attended not only by Transaero staff but by the staff of the airport and partner companies as well.

Trainings are usually arranged in the Transaero Aviation Training Center. However, on occasion they are conducted off-site.

• In anticipation of the Paralympic Games, Transaero organized trainings at Sochi International Airport for the airport staff and the company’s local employees.
• In April 2014, Transaero organized the trainings for Pulkovo International Airport staff in the brand new Pulkovo Terminal, which has a dedicated space for Special Assistance, where travelers with special needs can comfortably wait for their flights.

3. Information campaign

The information campaign includes distributing information booklets on services for disabled people – the target audience being both the staff and passengers traveling with Transaero. Transaero seeks to provide disabled people with information and the best ways to use it through websites, sale offices, and recommendations for disabled travelers.

Cooperation with Perspektiva focuses on still another important area – operation of the Business Advisory Board on Disability, which is a unique institution for Russia. The Board includes Russian and international companies. The Board is supported by Perspektiva and works on matters relating to the adaptation of services provided by various companies for disabled clients, the employment of disabled persons, and other important social aspects. The participation of Transaero in the Business Advisory Board on Disability enables it to draw on experiences of civil aviation partners and colleagues. The cooperation with Perspektiva is also very instrumental for Transaero in terms of expert appraisal.

4. Charity programs

Transaero regularly supports social, cultural, and sports events for disabled people. As a part of its support for sports involving disabled persons, Transaero provides transportation during some sporting events, including for the Special Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, the wheelchair dance sportsmen, and the annual Dance-a-thon event (organized by Best Buddies Russia).

• In 2013, Transaero started contributing to the special international cultural project Otdalennaya Blizost’:: first by organizing the informational campaign in Moscow for the company staff, partners, and customers;/ and tThen by arranging the the travel plans for of the project’s participants to the No Limits International Theatre Festival in Berlin.;
• On March 2014, in cooperation with dDisability oOrganizations, Transaero arranged a flight to Sochi for select sports fans, who were given the opportunity to travel to the world’s largest Paralympic competitions.;
• Within the framework of the information campaign, Transaero arranges photo exhibitions devoted to the problems of disabled persons.

Moreover, since 2007, Transaero has been implementing a global Back to the Future program dedicated to healthcare assistance for seriously ill children (treatment and rehabilitation of disabled children with cancer). Since the launch of the Back to the Future program, more than 2,000 disabled children have been transported for medical care purposes, and 1,000 children have undergone rehabilitation programs.

Transaero Airlines is the second-largest passenger airline in Russia. Transaero launched its services in November, 1991. Its fleet consists of 99 aircrafts and it has the largest long-haul aircraft fleet in Russia, the CIS, and Eastern Europe. Transaero serves more than 200 routes in Russia, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The team of Transaero consists of over 11,500 employees.