Inclusive and accessible travel: Case Finnair Oyj
Kujala, Harri; Joutsiniemi, Johanna (2019)
Kujala, Harri
Joutsiniemi, Johanna
2019
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019112522510
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019112522510
Tiivistelmä
This thesis aims at highlighting perspectives that are essential for organising services for air travel passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) and passengers with other disabilities. The focus is to understand the challenges faced by disabled passengers in air travel.
Aviation is a growing field of transport, carrying almost 4,4 billion people in the year 2018. At the same time, the population of the world is ageing. What ties these forecasts to the research is that ageing is generally related to an increasing number of disabilities. The background from the thesis comes from the expectations of a growing demand for accessibility services for passengers.
This thesis is commissioned by Finnish airline Finnair. As part of it, training material is produced for Finnair personnel communicating with disabled passengers at the airport and on the airplane, to improve the airline’s accessibility services. Producing the material was the overall aim of the thesis, which makes this a product-oriented thesis.
The method of the thesis was desk research by which we identified the relevant perspectives and phenomena that characterise the disabled passengers’ travelling. We used the findings to create the commissioner’s material. The literature review in this thesis introduces these relevant perspectives: The thesis identifies organisations promoting accessible tourism and presents the regulatory framework of the disabled people’s travel in the European Union and the United States. The thesis introduces two approaches to disabilities, a medical and a social models of disability. Because specialised knowledge is required to implement theory into practice as an accessible, barrier-free environment, the thesis presents a universal design approach in detail. We also cover the concept of corporate responsibility in this thesis.
The main finding of the research is that even though service arrangements for passengers with disabilities differ from those for mainstream, passengers with disabilities would like to be treated and communicated to the same way as other passengers. We noticed that this is not yet the case and that the present way of organising services often treats disabled passengers as objects to be transported. The need for collaboration between airline service providers and organisations that promote accessibility was recognised to develop the services. Designing a passenger path and physical environments according to the social model of disability and following the principles of Universal design are recommended to change the passenger experience.
The result of the thesis is that we could identify the relevant information among the numerous sources and include it to the commissioner’s training material. The value of the thesis is to help change airlines’ services towards accessibility and inclusion.
Aviation is a growing field of transport, carrying almost 4,4 billion people in the year 2018. At the same time, the population of the world is ageing. What ties these forecasts to the research is that ageing is generally related to an increasing number of disabilities. The background from the thesis comes from the expectations of a growing demand for accessibility services for passengers.
This thesis is commissioned by Finnish airline Finnair. As part of it, training material is produced for Finnair personnel communicating with disabled passengers at the airport and on the airplane, to improve the airline’s accessibility services. Producing the material was the overall aim of the thesis, which makes this a product-oriented thesis.
The method of the thesis was desk research by which we identified the relevant perspectives and phenomena that characterise the disabled passengers’ travelling. We used the findings to create the commissioner’s material. The literature review in this thesis introduces these relevant perspectives: The thesis identifies organisations promoting accessible tourism and presents the regulatory framework of the disabled people’s travel in the European Union and the United States. The thesis introduces two approaches to disabilities, a medical and a social models of disability. Because specialised knowledge is required to implement theory into practice as an accessible, barrier-free environment, the thesis presents a universal design approach in detail. We also cover the concept of corporate responsibility in this thesis.
The main finding of the research is that even though service arrangements for passengers with disabilities differ from those for mainstream, passengers with disabilities would like to be treated and communicated to the same way as other passengers. We noticed that this is not yet the case and that the present way of organising services often treats disabled passengers as objects to be transported. The need for collaboration between airline service providers and organisations that promote accessibility was recognised to develop the services. Designing a passenger path and physical environments according to the social model of disability and following the principles of Universal design are recommended to change the passenger experience.
The result of the thesis is that we could identify the relevant information among the numerous sources and include it to the commissioner’s training material. The value of the thesis is to help change airlines’ services towards accessibility and inclusion.