WHITE SALMON, Wash. — Seth McBride’s life changed irrevocably on a snowy mountainside in British Columbia more than two decades ago. A lifelong thrill-seeker who grew up in Juneau, Alaska, McBride loved skiing, rock climbing, and mountain biking. But a backflip gone wrong at Whistler Blackcomb resort at age 17 left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Despite the life-altering injury, McBride has continued to pursue an adventurous life. He and his wife biked 6,500 miles from Portland, Oregon, to Argentina using a hand-cranked cycle. He’s a decorated wheelchair rugby player, competing in the Paralympic Games in Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, and London, winning medals in each.
However, air travel remains a significant challenge. McBride, now 43, faces a complex pre-flight routine involving dehydration to minimize bathroom employ, the risk of rough handling during transfers, and the constant worry that his wheelchair – his primary means of mobility – will be damaged or lost. “There are very few places in my life that I feel less independent” than an airport, McBride said.
Recent federal regulations aimed at improving air travel for passengers with disabilities offered a glimmer of hope. The Biden administration issued rules requiring airlines to be liable for damaged or delayed wheelchairs and to improve staff training. But those regulations are now stalled, following a lawsuit filed by a trade association and several major airlines seeking to prevent their implementation. The lawsuit argues the rules are overly burdensome and expose airlines to “unreasonable financial risk.”
The Department of Transportation initially postponed the rules until March 2025, then again to August 2025. Now, the agency plans to issue a new rule this coming August, followed by a 60-day comment period, meaning no changes will take effect until at least 2027.
Mia Ives-Rublee, director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress, described a pattern of airlines prioritizing profit over the needs of disabled passengers. “Airlines aren’t doing enough to protect our devices,” she said, adding that this lack of protection makes travel “very difficult for disabled people.” Ives-Rublee has personally experienced having nearly a half dozen wheelchairs broken by airlines over the past 20 years, a situation that can be both costly and life-threatening. A manual wheelchair can cost up to $2,000, while a motorized one can rival the price of a used car.
McBride has experienced his share of damage to his wheelchairs, including “nicks and scrapes” to his everyday chair and more serious damage to those used in rugby competition. He doesn’t view the issue as a partisan one, pointing out that the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law by Republican President George H.W. Bush. “The basic issues of people being able to access the same services and the same experiences as everyone else shouldn’t be political… It’s a safety thing,” he said.
McBride believes regulations are sometimes necessary to ensure companies prioritize safety and the rights of all individuals. He suggested that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and former President Donald Trump take a flight with his rugby team to experience the challenges faced by wheelchair users firsthand. “Go on a trip with my rugby team and notice what it’s like when you have multiple wheelchair users on the same plane,” he said, “and how difficult it is and why we feel like regulations are needed so we can have a modicum of safety and dignity when we’re flying.”
McBride, who works remotely as a writer for New Mobility magazine and heads communications and marketing for the United Spinal Assn., remains focused on living a full life. “It was something s— that happened to me,” he said of his accident, “But s— stuff happens to people all the time. What matters is how you move forward and what you can do with your life after that happens.”
