Hi all!!

So I need some info from you frequent and not so frequent flyers
out there. My employer (The San Andreas Regional Center)  here in
California  is sending me to a two day conference in San Diego in
February 07.  I don't fly even on a semi regular basis, and I
know airline procedures have changed a whole lot since 911.  So
below are excerpts   from two reascent Emails I sent to those in
charge of making all our arrangements for getting to the
conference.  Please feel free to add or expand on the questions
and concerns I've written here.

Also if you could lead me to Web Sites that specifically address
issues regarding disabled travelers that would be helpful too.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Happy Holidays!!-Gary

First Email:
1.  Will SARC be making my airline reservations, or should I do
that on my own?
2.  If our reservations will be made via SARC, will I have a
choice of airline?  I ask this because some airlines are better
at dealing with my electric wheelchair and other needs then
others.  I don't fly on any kind of a regular basis, but when I
have I've gotten my best service from Alaska Air.
3.  Is it possible I would be able to fly out of San Jose airport
instead of San Francisco?
4.  Once we land in San Diego, will there be some kind of
accessible ground transportation to take us to our hotel?  I
understand we'll be flying into San Diego on a Sunday Evening. 
My concern is most accessible shuttle services even if they
operate on weekends, don't operate late in the evening.  Also
Please remember I'm not able to transfer at all from my chair to
a shuttle seat or anything like that.  So please make sure I can
stay in my chair.
5.  Is there a specific person my staff and I can contact at the
hotel regarding issues that might come up regarding our
accommodations?

Second Email:
So after sending him that Email, he sent me a reply saying I
would be flying out of San Jose on South West?  If so, when you
make my reservation, please make sure you give the airline the
following information:
1.  My staff and I will need assistants from the airline getting
me from my electric wheelchair into my seat.  We'll need the same
kind of assistants upon landing in San Diego, as well as on both
ends of the flight coming back.
2.  My staff will need to be able to sit right next to me at all
times.
3.  My electric wheelchair has Gel Cell type batteries.  Please
ask if it will be necessary to take them out of the chair before
flying?  If yes, please ask if the airline has knowledge as to
how to take the batteries out of my chair as well as being able
to reinstall them back into my chair upon landing?  I will be
more then happy to assist the airline in obtaining whatever
technical information they need about my chair.
4.  I will plan to be at the airport at least two hours before my
flight.  Given all the new security regulations, is there
anything else I should know before arriving at the airport?
5.  Can you tell me if there will be a specific person I can work
with via Email or phone to make sure this all gets done
correctly?  As I told him, I don't fly on a regular basis, but
there have been those times over the years when I have flown
that one thing or another as gone horribly wrong.  Like the time
I flu from San Francisco to Memphis Tennessee and I was told upon
arriving in Memphis that my wheelchair had been left in San
Francisco.  So that's why the questions I ask here are so
specific.  So I hope all this information is of help to you in
making all the arrangements.  Please let me know if I can be of
any more help.

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