On the morning of Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, an Allegiant Airlines plane will land at Bangor International Airport as scheduled. On that day, however, it won’t take back off at its usual time — it will stop on the tarmac for several hours so that 156 people with developmental disabilities and their guardians can experience what it’s like to get on a plane.
Wings For All is a program organised by national disability rights group The Arc to help people with autism and other developmental disabilities become more comfortable with the different aspects of flying. The February Wings For All event at BIA will be the first to happen in Maine, and is the result of more than a year’s worth of collaboration between the airport, Allegiant, the Transportation Security Administration and the Autism Society of Maine.
“We’ve never done anything like this before,” Aimee Thibodeau, marketing director for BIA, said. “It’s something that’s really important to us, as members of the community, to make sure travel is easier for all kinds of families.”
On the day of the event, families that have registered will arrive at the airport in time for an 11 a.m. check-in. They will bring their carry-on luggage, they will go to the counter to get their “ticket,” they will go through security screening with the TSA, they will wait at the gate and then they will board the plane and talk to the pilot. Almost everything about the air travel experience will happen during the event — except for the fact that the plane won’t actually take off.
