Airport tours ease travel jitters

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This article was published 23/07/2020 (2091 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Airports Authority wants to make navigating the airport less stressful for folks with disabilities and those who experience anxiety when they travel.

A new program allows people who require extra support to take a free personalized tour of Winnipeg’s airport days before their flight.

On the tour, travellers, plus their caregivers or service animal, will meet an airport staff member. The group will go through the airport exactly as they would when flying out of  Winnipeg. The rehearsal lasts from checking in to boarding.

Groups will receive temporary airport passes; people normally can’t walk through without a ticket.

“This program is about helping all members of the community feel confident when they’re moving through the airport,” said Barry Rempel, the WAA’s president and CEO.

The program, which is the first of its kind in Canada, has been in the works for a year. The WAA noticed a need for tours after offering them at the airport’s open house last summer.

“(We) found that some of the people…  wanted to understand more about the airport, in large measure, because of… anxiety,” Rempel said.

The WAA worked on the initiative with its accessibility committee, which includes representatives from Manitoba Possible, St. Amant and the CNIB. Transport Canada approved the program earlier this month.

Folks on tours will follow the same public health protocols as those in the airport for travel.

Normally, 13,000 people travel through the airport per day, Rempel said. Since COVID-19 spread across Canada and borders closed, the airport has had fewer than 1,000 people daily. As few as 70 people entered the airport daily in the early months of the pandemic, but attendance is increasing as restrictions are lifted, Rempel said.

He said anxiety about travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic is another reason the program is needed.

Carla McDonald, the owner and operator of the Travelling Guardian, said she thinks the program is a great idea. McDonald chaperones Manitobans — often seniors with disabilities — around the airport and on planes. She began her company after working as an airline customer service agent for 38 years. She noticed that people with disabilities needed assistance in the hectic space.

“Airports are one of the most daunting places to navigate because of all the sights, the sounds, the noise, the quick pace,” McDonald said. “For somebody to get a little bit of help at the beginning is great.”

The rehearsal program could provide caregivers more confidence about travelling, especially if they’re looking after someone with dementia, said Wendy Schettler, the CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba.

“(The tour would) give them the comfort that they know how to navigate that space. So when they’re there, they can focus more comfortably on the person with dementia,” Schettler said.

Even more important than tours is equipping the airport with signs, arrows and helpful staff, she said.

Manitobans can sign up for a tour — once they have a confirmed travel booking — by contacting info@waa.ca or calling 204-987-9402. Afterwards, the registrant will speak with someone from the WAA to ensure the program is right for them.

gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca