On February 12, Tolmachevo Airport hosted a round table on accessible environment for passengers with disabilities.
The event was initiated by frequent flyers with disabilities and health limitations. The discussion was attended by Irina Fedorova, Chairman of Novosibirsk interregional organization of people with disabilities "INTEGRATION" Association, Yana Logvinenko, Chairman of Novosibirsk Regional Affiliation of All-Russian Organization of Disabled People within The All Russia Association of the Blind, Vladimir Yelfimov, member of People with Hearing and Visual Impairments Association and "So-glasie" support organization, Victor Semenko, Chairman of Novosibirsk Regional Public Organization of Wheelchair-Users "Finist" Independent Living Center, Oksana Simutenko, organizer of the "Darkness and Silence" social project dedicated to people with hearing and vision impairments, Irina Demidionok, CEO of OOO "Surdofon" which develops software for the deaf and hard of hearing, Olga Varinova, head of Russian sign language (RSL) laboratory at IST, NSTU NETI, President of RSL Translation Association. The discussion also involved Tolmachevo Airport passengers with hearing, visual and locomotor impairments, airport specialists and representatives of partner airlines as well as organizations providing support to people with special needs.
According to Oleg Pytin, the head of the passenger transport service, passenger traffic at the airport increased by 800 thousand people in 2019. The number of passengers with disabilities also increased. Currently, the airport has a special assistance service, but on practice passengers with special needs are not always satisfied with the quality of it. A key problem in working with disabled people is the difficulty of communication between airport employees and passengers who need special attention.
Since Institute of Social Technologies, NSTU NETI, has 25 years of experience in inclusive education and specializes, among other things, in working with deaf students, it has proposed a new approach to educating and enhancing the competence of airport employees through trainings.
"Teaching specialists through the study of theoretical materials and viewing video lectures fails to fully prepare employees. Developing effective communication skills requires conducting practical classes with deaf people”, explained Olga Varinova, Head of the Russian Sign Language Laboratory, NSTU NETI, President of Siberian Association of Russian Sign Language Translators.
Volunteers and representatives of the society for the blind, deaf-blind and wheelchair users also made comments and suggestions.
The identified problems and the high interest of the air services providers will make it possible to outline a number of events in the near future to significantly increase the comfort of passengers with special needs.