August 6th, United Spinal Association today announced a partnership with Airshells.us to provide people living with disabilities access to safety bags designed to protect foldable and rigid wheelchairs from damage during air travel.
The new safety bags have the potential to alleviate some of the issues faced by wheelchair users who are held up or inconvenienced when their equipment gets damaged when travelling by air.
Currently, Airshells offers air travelers with disabilities rental access to its protective baggage for foldable and rigid wheelchairs through United Airlines at airports across the country.
"There's nothing better than peace of mind knowing that your wheelchair is safe from damage when heading to the airport, said Nick LiBassi, United Spinal's Director of Special Projects."
"It's great to see a company like Airshells addressing this problem with innovative products that do exactly what they're supposed to -- protect essential mobility equipment that wheelchair users rely on and that is extremely costly to repair or replace," said LiBassi.
"We believe the availability of Airshells' concept and products at airports nationwide could potentially make a huge difference in the travel experiences of wheelchair users," said Joe Gaskins, United Spinal's president and CEO.
"It is critically important that other airlines offer this added protection to their passengers with disabilities so they no longer have to worry about replacing damaged equipment," added Gaskins.
Airshells was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company was founded by Kim Christensen, a former Baggage Handler in Copenhagen Airport who took notice of the volume and severity of damage to oversized baggage items and was compelled to design a solution.
"We are thrilled to have the support of United Spinal Association and United Airlines who not only fully understand how detrimental a damaged wheelchair can be to a person's quality of life, but also the value of our products in preventing these occurrences," said Christensen.
The outer fabric of the 8-lb. protective baggage designed by Airshells for manual wheelchairs is a very hard-wearing material with a high quality zipper. The bag is also lined with custom foam and measures L105xH42xW65.
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Airshells presently offers its products in 70 airports across the Nordics, UK, Ireland, Portugal, France and Spain with expansion plans for USA, Middle East and Australasia.
The company has more than 150,000 rentals executed since its foundation with zero damage claims. They have also developed hundreds of protective bag prototypes to continuously improve the protection and convenience for customers.
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