Jan. 2014 News

Now that the Final Rule from DOT is finally here, I have been reading and absorbing as much as I can about accessible airline kiosks and websites. Actually, I have been following this regulatory process for the past three to four years. But it has recently come to my attention that check-in kiosks may be extinct soon! Is it possible that we are spending too much time and resources on kiosks and websites? Let’s face it, they’re old news. The kiosk’s days are numbered and websites evolve quicker then a dolphin’s skin. We now need to spend more, I mean all, of our regulatory time on mobile applications. Build the mobile app correctly and you do not need website or kiosk, period.

Eric Lipp, Executive Director
Open Doors Organization
 

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2014 ODO Market Study

It's official! Open Doors Organization has selected Mandala Research to carry out its next nationwide survey of adult travelers with disabilities. The study is a follow-up to the pioneering studies carried out by Harris Interactive for ODO in 2002 and 2005. It will again explore the travel patterns and expenditures of this important segment of the U.S. market, as well as the barriers these travelers still face. Sponsorship opportunities are available. To learn more...
 

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CRO Trainings In Europe

ODO is heading to Barcelona, Spain, to present at the Passenger Terminal Expo on March 25-27. Before and after the Expo, we will be available to conduct Initial Trainings for Complaints Resolution Officials (CROs). For European air carriers, this opportunity to train onsite offers major savings of both time and money. Ukraine International Airlines has already invited ODO to Kiev for a class on March 20-21. For details and scheduling, please email Risa Rifkind or call her at 773.388.8839.
 

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WHN's Airport Health Stations

The World Health Networks new, accessible Health Station, redesigned with the assistance of Open Doors Organization, will be on display at the Passenger Terminal Expo in Barcelona this March. Airports will also be pleased to learn that WHN now supplies the Health Stations at no cost and with no charge for their use by passengers or airport employees. In fact they now pay a space rental fee while only promoting health products and services at the airport at no cost to the airport or concessions. This is a major public health service which ODO is delighted to support. Check out WHN's catchy new animation, The New Airport People: Happier and Healthier. To request an Executive Summary on Airport Placement of Health Stations, email Nic Denyer or call him at 212.554.3659 (office) or 917.972.0483 (mobile).