The current reality is that airlines all over the world have violated the trust of disabled passengers, because we don't have the safety, the security or the confidence to know that our mobility devices will be intact and able to be used. The reality is that the aftermath of that is absolutely treating it like a luggage claim. It is absolutely treated by the airlines in such a way that the best we might get is they'll pay for it—it being the device—which takes lengthy negotiations and documentation, and working with vendors.
In the first incident when my wheelchair was broken, the airline negotiated with me about which wheelchair would be more cost-effective for it to replace it with. They didn't understand that down to the millimetre, my customized wheelchair empowers me to reach further, that it empowers the ability for me to use the muscles in my arm on a day-to-day basis, and that when I don't do that, those muscles atrophy. That's a permanent reality for me. That is personal to my condition.
Every person's disability is different, and the reliance they have on their mobility devices is different, but we need to operate on the fact that when a person is forced out of or separated from their device, there are dire consequences that are not documented or understood by the airlines or by the air travel industry today at all. It's not as simple as simply paying for the damage. What about the cost to our health and the lost time?
I'd say it starts with redefining and understanding the problem, which is what this study is doing, but then creating mechanisms that don't leave it to the goodwill of a kind person at an airline to decide how to handle the case. We need standardization.