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Adelaide Airport (ADL) in Australia has found itself in hot water after an interaction between a wheelchair user and one of its members of staff went viral online. The video in question was recorded by 41-year-old Shane Hryhorec, a disability advocate who has been using a wheelchair since 2007 due to a spinal injury, who was threatened with a fine by the worker while waiting to be picked up from the airport‘s disability pick-up zone.
With the interaction having garnered millions of views on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, Adelaide Airport has confirmed that neither Shane nor his mother, who was at the airport to pick him up, would be issued a fine. However, regardless of the airport’s damage control attempts, which even include asking Shane to take his video down, the incident highlights an alarming wider trend when it comes to accessibility.
An Alarming Interaction
According to 7 News, the story began when Shane arrived in Adelaide from Melbourne on Saturday. After touching down and clearing all the usual arrival formalities, he made his way to the airport’s designated disability pick-up zone, where he had planned to be collected by his mother. However, he soon heard from her that she hadn’t been granted entry due to not having a permit, having been yelled at in “an awful interaction” with a worker.
The member then turned to Shane to tell him that he couldn’t use the pick-up zone, with the disability advocate recording their interaction in a short video that has since, according to news.com.au, garnered over 2.4 million views on Instagram and TikTok. The worker even threatened Shane with a fine of AU$400 (US$288), with the airport having reportedly only reached out to him in order to ask him to take the video down. He explained:
“[The fact] that they’ve reached out to me asking to take the video down shows that they care more about their public image than fixing this problem, which to me is extremely upsetting.”
The Fine Won’t Be Enforced
While it is true that neither Shane nor his mother were in possession of a disability parking permit on the day in question, he argues that the zone in question is never very busy. He explains that permits are required in order “to prove that the person either you’re picking up or in the vehicle has a disability,” but also argues that “the fact that I’m sitting in a wheelchair with a service animal” also serves as concrete proof of his eligibility.
The scarce use of the zone in Shane’s experience, where he has “never seen more than one car” there in various trips to and from Adelaide, serves as evidence that, in his opinion, “the airport wants to keep it a hidden secret, [and] they don’t want people with disabilities to use it.” However, it is certainly needed, given that the regular zone is reportedly a busy and chaotic affair, with a lack of curb access making it unusable for wheelchairs.
ABC News reports that Shane hopes that, if nothing else, his video will highlight the fact that “this is not an isolated incident here in South Australia” but that “it’s happening all around Australia [and] all around the world.” Adelaide Airport has since released a statement explaining that Shane should have been allowed to use the zone on a discretionary basis on this occasion, adding that neither he nor his mother will have to pay the AU$400 fine.
Paralyzed American Airlines Passenger Files Complaint After Wheelchair Wasn’t Loaded Onto Flight
The incident took place on a flight from Hawaii to Phoenix, Arizona.
Wheelchair Users Sadly Face Poor Customer Service On An Alarmingly Regular Basis
Unfortunately, this story is far from the first instance of wheelchair users facing poor customer service while traveling by air in recent times. Indeed, February 2026 saw Simple Flying cover two stories along these lines in the US within just three days of each other. The first of these saw a Southwest Airlines passenger sue the carrier after they were allegedly ‘abandoned’ in a bathroom at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).
Shortly afterward, news then broke of a Delta Air Lines passenger having their wheelchair damaged during a flight, with the highly specialized nature of the equipment meaning that, with the chair out of action, normal daily life had become an impossibility. In this instance, Delta Air Lines did at least issue an apology to the passenger in question, Ms. Wheelchair America 2026 winner Latavia Sturdivant, and promised to cover the repair costs.
