The bill, which received support at its second reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday, would introduce new rules on flight conduct, lost luggage compensation, and price transparency. It aims to close what Baroness Grey-Thompson and other peers described as a “ad hoc” system in which disabled passengers face confusion over who to contact, how to complain, and who bears responsibility when equipment is damaged.
Grey-Thompson, a crossbench peer and winner of 11 Paralympic gold medals, detailed multiple incidents of wheelchair damage during the debate. She recounted how her wheelchair was lost on a flight from Geneva to Birmingham and returned “several weeks” later via Dublin “in two pieces.” When she reported the loss at the airport, she said, a staff member asked her, “Had you ever tried to walk? Would you like to try to walk?” Grey-Thompson replied that she could not walk. “The airline tried then to return two sleeping bags to me and argue with me that was my lost property, even though they were clearly tagged to a different airport and another name,” she said. When her wheelchair eventually arrived, it had “literally been cut in half,” and airline staff suggested she “duct tape it back together,” an attempt she said “didn’t work.”
Grey-Thompson also recalled separate incidents in which the wheels of her racing chair were damaged and an airline “immediately jumped to replacing them” with a more expensive set, underscoring the lack of consistent assessment standards across carriers. She said there needed to be better evaluation of damage and clearer accountability. “There’s a lack of data of when things go wrong — it’s hard to know who to contact, who to complain to, how to resolve issues and actually even who has responsibility,” she said. “This bill does present a significant opportunity to do something very different for disabled people.”
Lord Christopher Holmes, a blind Conservative peer and former Paralympic gold medallist, warned during the debate that the draft legislation lacked specific protections for disabled, older, and younger travellers. He called for an “inclusive-by-design statutory duty” written directly into the law, arguing it would “be a huge step forward” to improve protections for all passengers.
Labour peer Baroness Theresa Griffin of Princethorpe described being left in airport “holding pens” and given colouring pencils while travelling to Strasbourg. She asked whether the bill would apply to both airlines and airports. Transport minister Lord Hendy confirmed it would, saying peers had “spoke passionately” about serious shortcomings in air travel for disabled passengers. He said the government was acting because “actually it doesn’t accept that that’s inevitable.”
Aviation Minister Keir Mather said in a statement that the new laws would modernise UK aviation, support the redesign of airspace for faster and more efficient flights, and “enhancing aviation safety standards and delivering greater passenger protections.” Mather added: “We’re proud of the strong, reliable experience our sector delivers day-in day-out for passengers and we are clear that no-one should be let down when they travel.”
The bill now moves to committee stage for detailed line-by-line scrutiny before returning for further debate.