『Curb to Cabin Canada Episode #1: Interview with Steve Dawson, Senior Operations Manager, Fnyx Aviation Services』のカバーアート

Curb to Cabin Canada Episode #1: Interview with Steve Dawson, Senior Operations Manager, Fnyx Aviation Services

Curb to Cabin Canada Episode #1: Interview with Steve Dawson, Senior Operations Manager, Fnyx Aviation Services

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🎙️ Curb to Cabin Canada Episode #1: Interview with Steve Dawson, Senior Operations Manager, Fnyx Aviation Services https://donnajodhan.com/curb-to-cabin-canada-10-20-2026/ In this inaugural episode of Curb to Cabin Canada, host Donna J. Jodhan speaks with Steve Dawson, senior operations manager at Fnyx Aviation Services, whose team provides passenger assistance at Toronto Pearson. Steve says a niece with spina bifida drew him to the work, and that his company assisted 887 people with restricted mobility in May 2021 and almost 36,000 this past May, with Pearson handling over 4,000 wheelchairs a day. He explains who is responsible when something goes wrong: his surrey and wheelchair replenishment division, contracted by the airport authority, and his PRM division, which handles wheelchair service for 27 airlines, while Air Canada still runs its own wheelchair service and uses his team for its Curbside Assistance Program. Donna, who is blind and flies, shares her own experiences, from agents arriving with wheelchairs she did not want to agents who now ask whether she would like a wheelchair or an escort. Steve describes how airlines flag blind travellers with the BLND code, how his staff are trained to ask "How can I help you best?" instead of assuming, the Transport Canada accessibility training every agent must pass, and what a blind traveller dropped at the wrong door can do to reach help. He closes with the real estate and training challenges still facing Pearson, and says they are a lot closer to the finish line but not at the end of the journey. TRANSCRIPT Podcast Commentator: [upbeat music] Greetings from Toronto, and welcome to Curb to Cabin Canada. What really happens to blind and low-vision passengers when they fly? Your host, Donna J. Jodhan, is a lifelong blind advocate and law graduate whose landmark Charter case in 2010 compelled the Government of Canada to make its websites accessible to all Canadians, not just those with sight. Each episode follows one part of the air travel journey from curb to cabin, and asks the airlines, airports, and agencies a single question: Is this working? Donna serves on accessibility advisory committees in the aviation sector. None of them pays for this programme, and none sees a question before it is asked. Curb to Cabin Canada is presented to you by Donna J. Jodhan, with support from sponsors to be announced. None of our sponsors have any say in what this programme reports. Now, let's dive in with your host, Donna J. Jodhan. Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello, everybody, and welcome to the very first episode of Curb to Cabin Canada, the podcast which would talk about what really happens when disabled Canadians travel, and what it takes to make every step of that journey work. I'm Donna J. Jodhan. I'm blind, I fly, and I know how much can go wrong between the curb and the cabin. Today, I'm here with Steve Dawson, senior operations manager at Fnyx Aviation, I hope I got that right, Services, whose team provides passengers assistance at Toronto Pearson. Steve, welcome to the show. Steve Dawson: Thank you very much for the invitation, Donna. Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: You're welcome. All right, so let's get started. Steve, you spent 19 years at Scotiabank, ran express operations for Aramex, and worked in sales before joining AAS Canada at Toronto Pearson in 2018 to manage assistance— 15:04 PM… for passengers with reduced mobility. What drew you to this work— Cabin temperature, 57 degrees Fahrenheit… and what from those earlier careers turned out to matter most when the person that you are serving is a traveller with a disability? Steve Dawson: Oh, now that's an excellent question, Donna. I have a niece who's been in a wheelchair since birth and she has spina bifida, and she's severely disabled. And I've spent a great deal of time with her, taking her to hockey games, baseball games, travelling with her, and I was amazed at the wide spectrum or wide levels of service available. Some places were absolutely outstanding to make sure that every single need she had was taken care of, and others fell rather short of the mark. And I found it very discouraging to see that we weren't maintaining a consistent level of service here in Canada, taking care of people who need some assistance, some mobility assistance. And the company I was working for at the time, I was working in a different division for them, for TBM Services, as their TTC division, and I saw some of this as working as a contractor for the TTC as well, where again, the people who need a little more mobility assistance weren't getting the consistent help they needed. So when the company approached me and asked me if I'd like to help start up AAS Canada at the airport, I was one of the first eight managers and I jumped at the opportunity. I said, "Sure, I would absolutely love to." And that's what got me interested more than anything. Needless to say, the pay that was offered didn't ...
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