In the U.S., no airline accommodates more wheelchair passengers than Southwest. If you’re in a wheelchair, you board first. And the earlier you board, the more seats you get to choose from. Wheelchair passengers just aren’t supposed to sit in an exit row. Most of these people ‘require’ assistance boarding, but walk off on their own at the end of the flight – fully healed!
Seriously @SouthwestAir? There are more than 25 pre-boarders on my LAS-AUS flight. Just because you get a C on your boarding group shouldn’t mean you can cut the line. pic.twitter.com/ni0RGVPdq4
— Steve Stauning (@SteveStauning) November 15, 2025
That’s going to end January 26th with assigned seating. But Southwest isn’t the only airline with a wheelchair problem, and seat choice isn’t the only reason people request assistance they don’t need.
There are up to 120 wheelchair requests per international flight on Air India. 90 wheelchairs are common. In fact, data suggests that 30% of Air India passengers flying to the U.S. and U.K. request wheelchairs.
Data from early 2025 shows that nearly 30% of passengers booking Air India flights to USA from India requested wheelchair assistance. On February 19, for instance, Air India’s nonstop Delhi to Chicago flight had 99 wheelchair bookings for almost one-third of the passengers on board. On March 20, the airline had to cater to a whopping 90 wheelchair service requests for passengers scheduled to travel on the Delhi-Newark flight. Precisely, Air India alone processes over 100,000 wheelchair requests every month from passengers, domestic and international.
Air India says 30% of passengers on India-US flights ask for wheelchairs.
Most are able bodied travelers scamming the priority boarding system.
Real disabled passengers get left short.
— Bruce (@bruce_barrett) November 15, 2025
The big prize here isn’t boarding – it’s skipping every line: Priority at check-in, security, and departure immigration (something U.S.-origin flights don’t have). It also often means help at baggage claim, too. And since ground staff are under pressure to get passengers through quickly, and move on to assisting the next passenger, they routinely cut to the front of lines. That’s the “hack.”
For an India–US economy passenger that turns 2-hour check-in lines into 5 minutes, cut to the front of security and immigration, and someone pushes you to the remote gate so you don’t have a long walk. Things are so bad that India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation now formally allows airlines to charge able-bodied passengers for wheelchair service.
While I haven’t been happy with a lot of the changes that Southwest Airlines has rolled out – like devalued Rapid Rewards points, expiring travel credits, and checked bag fees, we’ll certainly see fewer passengers faking disabilities. I like that today seats aren’t assigned months in advance, so last minute bookers like me still have a shot of a decent seat. But I don’t like queuing half an hour in advance of the flight.
Reducing Jetbridge Jesus flights is a positive side to the tradeoff. That doesn’t just promote fairness, it stops hogging wheelchairs and staff time pushing those chairs to make them more available for those that really need the assistance.
But it doesn’t end the practice, and we see it across all airlines (just not as frequently as we do with Air India!) because it gets you:
- Guaranteed bin space near your seat. For many once-a-year travellers with big carry-ons, “my bag is right above me” feels like a huge win.
- The whole entourage boarding with the wheelchair, so 3–6 family members board early too. They can get kids settled, claim overheads for multiple bags, and rearrange seats before the cabin fills.
- Avoid standing in a packed jetbridge.
- No long walking distances in the airport.
Requesting wheelchairs remains about converting the airport day into a half-baked VIP meet-and-assist product for free. And we’re not likely to see rules in the U.S. like in India allowing airlines to charge passengers who don’t actually need it.
That change is probably gonna surprise a few yokels who don’t realize it’s no longer effective… February 2026: ‘Wait, so I boarded early, but I can’t pick seat 1A? 36B?! What was even the point of lying about being handicapped?!’
The lame shall walk again- at the end of the flight!
(musical note emojis)
“Don’t care if it rains or freezes”
(musical note emojis)
IYKYK
Southwest corrupted the wheelchair process and encouraged the scammers when it adopted the policy of calling for those who were able to walk down the jetway to board first and then they would take those actually in wheelchairs. All of a sudden they had 20 to 30 more so called “handicapped” now walking down. I have as many as 10, very able bodied apparently a sports team, boarded prior to those in wheelchairs, more than once. Shame on for creating this monster.
Why don’t you go to the airport and call out the people who you don’t think are handicapped?
Southwest created this monster when they decided to ask for those able to walk down the jetbridge to board first and then they would take actual wheelchair passengers. This alone encouraged the scammers to multiply tremendously. I have personally witnessed what appeared to be young, able bodied sports teams, leap up and preboard when actual wheelchair passengers were left waiting. And this happened more than once. Shame on you Southwest.
I hope WN releases the data on the number of wheelchair and early boarding requests before and after the assigned seating change over date.
I put my Mother-in-law in a wheelchair at MIA. The walk at Airside D is just too long and confusing for her (she is 82). She does not need it at her destination airport (TPA), which was designed for minimal walking length. I wish I could just require it where needed, but that isn’t an option. Airlines should allow assistance at individual airports rather than entire flights.
Just have wheelchairs board last and don’t allow wheelchair users to have more than a personal item. They have to check everything.
@Dave – This is the correct answer.