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Title:

Aging and Air Travel

Accession Number:

01021005

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Abstract:

The number of people 65 and older worldwide is projected to increase from 420 million in 2000 to 835 million by 2025, thus creating a lucrative air travel market. This target group will have the time, money and desire to travel by air, but may be prevented from doing so if the barriers they face are overly burdensome. The objective of this paper is to identify and discuss challenges confronted by older adults and to offer potential solutions. The adaptations needed to facilitate air travel for older adults are somewhat different from those included in the Americans with Disabilities Act and associated regulations. Today’s Baby Boomers are healthier than the previous generation and may not need nor want wheelchair ramps and boarding assistance. However, even healthy adults experience certain physiological and psychological challenges when confronted with inconvenient modes of access and egress, long walking distances, prolonged waiting, difficulties in wayfinding and navigating through the terminal, and boarding and moving within the aircraft. The solutions to air travel challenges for older adults lie in making the entire trip chain accessible. Recommendations will be made to improve the usability of individual segments of the trip chain. By proactively preparing for the Baby Boomers who will be flooding the airways in the future, the air travel industry will be able to accommodate this lucrative market niche, thus enabling older adults to use air travel to enhance their quality of life.

Monograph Accession #:

01020180

Report/Paper Numbers:

06-1800

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Wolfe, Harry P
Suen, S Ling

Pagination:

17p

Publication Date:

2006

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2006-1-22 to 2006-1-26
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

CD-ROM

Features:

Figures (1) ; References (13) ; Tables (4)

Subject Areas:

Aviation; Environment; Finance; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2006 Paper #06-1800

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Mar 3 2006 10:47AM