Relevant disabilities: part time wheelchair user, easily fatigued. Has a pusher to help most of the time.
All airports were used in 2017 or earlier. The reason I don't fly anymore should be explained by the end.
Nice wide airport, used to dealing with seniors so you don't run into stairs and narrow hallways and carpets much. You are going to get patted down more thoroughly.
If you borrow their chairs, they are the kind you cannot self propel, and they will park you at the gate (away from the desk) and leave you there. Like luggage. I had the good fortune of being able to walk to the bathroom. Flagging down a helper did not look easy.
Note: do not take the airport bus. Their drivers do not have a place to secure your chair. They will just prop it up next to the luggage without even securing it. "It's fine!" It was not.
I had the worst time in that airport. First, they put my chair through customs. They wouldn't give it back, so I had to crawl. The customs line took several hours. There was nowhere to rest comfortably, and they would not give me a temporary chair. I sent my partner ahead to bring my chair back to me. Thankfully, this was allowed.
At one point, I asked for a cup of water to take meds, and the coffee lady looked at me like I was trying to rob her. Had to find a fountain.
We were there at night, and they locked the bathrooms so we had to go a long way to find some. So much for the city that never sleeps.
They don't seem to know how to handle wheelies. Calling for a TSA check took them an hour. More carpets and hills than I'd like.
Southwest Airlines gave away my wheelchair to a random lady on the first flight, then crushed it on the return trip. Great airline to fly if you need a new chair. They have a luggage tag system, but do not check it at all.
I don't remember which airports we went through, sorry. Our destination was Bremen. There were 2, and the same is true for both: Architecture was unfun- many narrow spaces, stairs, carpets, hills, etc.- but the experience was nice. The disabled toilet had hoists and lots of nice features. The TSA did not give me an invasive pat down. The helpers were very nice throughout.
This is true of Bremen, Germany as a whole. They'll have amazing toilets and buses, but the rest of society is built with walkers in mind.
Note: you may have to board on the runway itself. The stairs were steep, but the railing was sturdy. I do not know what they did for paralyzed people.
Note 2: never believe anyone who says they're accessible, and make sure you only go to places that someone you know has said are wheelie friendly.
I think we went through Istanbul? Very nice folks who tried to help, but they did not have any system in place. Barely even had elevators. They seemed very surprised that a wheelie could be young. Not bad surprised, thankfully.
