Disability advocacy group calls for ‘shift’ after man ‘kicked off’ Virgin Australia flight over wheelchair

The chief executive of a major disability advocacy voice says she was disappointed but unsurprised to hear of a wheelchair-using Australian’s struggles with an airline.

Shane Hryhorec , 41, claims he was “kicked off” a Sydney to Adelaide flight on Monday because there was nowhere to safely place his battery-powered motorised SmartDrive wheel, which he uses to propel his wheelchair.

Hryhorec, a disability advocate with C5 incomplete quadriplegia, said the design of the business class row ahead left no room for it under the footrest, and the 20-minute exchange with Virgin crew in front of a packed plane had left him humiliated .

“It’s disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising. It’s certainly not an isolated incident,” Disability Advocacy Network Australia chief executive Elicia Ford told 7NEWS.com.au.

“It just reflects the everyday negotiation of access that people with disability frequently experience.

“It’s a tangible example of the gap between promises of inclusion and the reality that disabled people have to constantly negotiate access to everyday life, ordinary life.”

Regulations regarding the storage of lithium-ion batteries meant the SmartDrive had to be easily accessible in the cabin and could not be stored with Hryhorec’s check-in nor in the overhead lockers where he usually keeps it.

The Port Adelaide local said one flight attendant had flagged they could put it in the footrest of an empty seat at the back of the plane, but that was overruled.

Hryhorec said he had flown with Virgin several times in the last week without issue.

“We’re seeing a real example here of where airline policy, safety and access are clashing, so to speak,” Ford said.

“Airlines need to have safe and workable solutions to operational issues, but they also need to have clear, consistent and accessible processes for mobility equipment.

“And frontline staff need the training and authority to resolve situations that don’t fit standard process.

“So instead of defaulting immediately to ‘you can’t travel’, it should be, ‘how can we make this safely work for everybody?’.”

In Australia, almost one in five people lived with disability in 2024.