Northwest Aerospace News Issue No. 35 — October | November 2023 | Page 26

Chris Wood , director of FlyDisabled , was on hand to advocate for better wheelchair access to airlines . He has attended most of the RedCabin sessions . “ RedCabin is very different than other conferences ; it brings people together with innovation and collaboration . There are no sales ; it is a chat over coffee with an idea .” One of the main reasons he attends is to encourage making flying more accessible to those in power wheelchairs . Bernadette Berger , director of innovation with Alaska Airlines stated , “ Solving the wheelchair service requests is the number one operational challenge .” Through these conversations , she hopes that better innovations will come through automating more processes . Wood said his adult children are in power wheelchairs , and flying has been unsafe . He wants to see inclusivity for everyone in transportation .

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