Father and daughter at airport waiting lounge using digital tablet.
A few years back, JSX CEO Alex Wilcox was on a business trip when he encountered a family with a child on the autism spectrum. The child was so distraught by the sights, sounds, and overall airport experience that the family couldn’t board the plane. Wilcox felt he could do something about this at JSX.
After that encounter, Wilcox was dedicated to building on JSX’s existing strengths by empowering crew members to serve people with autism and their families better, furthering the air carrier’s mission of offering simple, joyful, and reliable air travel for all.
Air Travel Can Be Difficult For Autistic People
It was in 1990 that the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. One of its goals was to make travel easier by requiring operators to offer accommodations, such as wheelchair lifts, airport shuttle service, and rental cars with hand controls. It also led to the rise of interpreters and closed captioning in public communications.
However, it wasn’t until 2014, when the World Health Organization called for the access needs of people with ASD to be properly addressed, that we saw the travel industry factor in aspects of autism. The airport experience can be stressful for even a seasoned traveler, but it can be incredibly overwhelming for individuals with autism. Additionally, the airport’s loud, busy, and unfamiliar environment can be overstimulating, often resulting in meltdowns.
Airlines like Delta, American, JetBlue, and Alaskan have created disability support airport rehearsal programs. Rehearsal programs improve disability competency and accommodation processes for airport personnel. The learning environment these programs foster allows staff to gain experience in delivering services to those with developmental disabilities and alleviating the stress of special needs families.
Creating airport familiarity and routine can relieve stress, increasing the ease of the travel process for the children and their families. The new skills and habits learned while rehearsing have allowed families to visit loved ones or vacation in places they never dreamed possible.
Making The Friendly Skies Friendly For All
Passenger airplane flying above clouds in evening.
For its Autism Awareness initiative, JSX partnered with Autism Double-Checked, an organization founded by travel industry professionals dedicated to creating a safe and enjoyable space for those on the autism spectrum and their families when they travel away from home.
“Autism Double-Checked takes advocacy and action to a new level, working across the hospitality and travel industry to provide vital resources and training for frontline staff,” explains Sherry Groff, Vice President, Hospitality at JSX. “The decision to work with them continues to provide eye-opening learning experiences for our team. As a result, the partnership between JSX and Autism Double-Checked is thriving.”
Some features include passengers being able to bypass crowds and long lines at security (while still enjoying screening that meets and exceeds TSA standards) and board just 20 minutes before departure.
In addition, all JSX staff, from pilots to flight attendants and customer service agents, underwent training to assist passengers with autism better. JSX also worked with Autism Double-Checked to create a passenger guide for those flying with passengers who have autism.
For its Autism Awareness initiative, JSX partnered with Autism Double-Checked, an organization … [+]
Among other things, the guide alerts passengers to issues of safety, crowds, waiting, noise, body awareness, heat or cold, light, taste or smell, fine motor issues, and surprise elements they might encounter at the various airports and private terminals JSX serves, or on its flights.
“JSX provides a host of options to ensure our customers with neurodiverse needs can travel comfortably,” Ms. Groff stated. “Most JSX facilities offer a quiet room where customers needing a less stimulating environment can wait for their flight. Ear plugs are also available for customers who’d like them. In addition, our crewmembers are trained to interact with neurodiverse customers, whether verbal or non-verbal, using a communication device or aid.”
Similar Programs Across the US
Commercial aircraft cabin with rows of seats down the aisle. morning light in the salon of the … [+]
Similar programs assist travelers with disabilities during airport screening. For example, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has begun to offer sunflower lanyards to travelers with a “hidden disability.”
Another popular program is TSA Cares, which provides officers to walk a family through the process, from security to the gate. Programs such as these can be valuable to special needs families, especially with the unpredictability of their child with autism’s first-time flight experience.
Some airports have also been investing in lounges for neurodivergent travelers. For example, the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) added an airport sensory-friendly suite with immersive activities and technology in a bright, child-centered room.
Encouraging Other Airlines To Follow Suit
happy african american father looking at son while boy playing with toy plane in airport
The most important test on whether or not these initiatives are working comes from the feedback of the autistic community themselves. “We continue to hear heart-warming stories from customers and their families about how our unique flying style has opened the door to experiences and journeys they thought would be impossible at worst – or extremely difficult at best,” shared Groff. “From linking children to vital equine therapy sessions in other states to simply enabling neurodiverse customers to visit family hundreds of miles away, the feedback we get from our customers makes me immensely proud of our hard-working crew members.”
While the travel and public health sectors are slowly working to eliminate major constraints encountered by passengers with autism, research on international travelers with developmental or cognitive disabilities is limited.
“Airlines exist to bring people together,” said Groff. “More travel companies do not consider the needs of neurodiverse customers or customers with any disability, especially disabilities or illnesses that may be ‘invisible’ are a glaring lapse in the travel industry as a whole. I invite people to tell us how to help them better, and I wholeheartedly encourage other air carriers and travel brands to join us in advocating for the needs of humankind.”
