It’s not often that my home airport of Miami International (MIA) leads the way when it comes to innovation (perhaps with the exception of passengers finding new ways to get into altercations), though here’s something that I find to be quite smart, and I’m surprised it hasn’t been adopted at airports on a more widespread basis.
Miami’s nifty fleet of self-driving wheelchairs
Roughly a year ago, in mid-2024, Miami International Airport introduced a fleet of autonomous wheelchairs. I’m not sure why I haven’t covered this until now, but it’s something that I find to be quite interesting, and which I’ve noticed during every visit.
Airlines are required to provide wheelchair services for passengers who request it, though this can be complicated and costly. For example, Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle has claimed that each wheelchair request costs an airline $30-35, and that says nothing of the reliability issues, like how staffing shortages can create operational challenges.
So Miami Airport has found a creative way to automate this, and it was the first airport in the United States to give this a try. Specifically, the airport has autonomous power chairs developed by WHILL, Inc., to transport passengers to their gates.
As before, there’s a central point where passengers start their wheelchair journey. Then there’s a touchscreen that allows passengers to choose their destination, and then the monitor will display how long the journey takes.
The wheelchair makes a constant chime as it goes through the terminal, and moves at a fairly slow pace, so that it doesn’t hit anyone. Of course there are also sensors to prevent this. Passengers can store their carry-on in a compartment behind the seat, and can hold any personal items in their lap.
This seems like a really smart innovation
While I’m not ordinarily someone who thinks that automation is the solution to everything, I think this is actually one of the better uses of it.
For one, the cost savings here seem massive. Airports tend to have fairly high labor rates, and the job of pushing a wheelchair is incredibly time consuming, for obvious reasons, which is why it’s so costly for airlines.
It’s not like we’re talking about cost savings of a few dollars per passenger, but instead, we’re talking about savings of $30-35, and ultimately, that contributes quite a bit to airline costs, especially in some markets. I’m no expect on wheelchair costs, but I have to imagine that these pay for themselves within several weeks of entering operation.
Admittedly I haven’t used one of these wheelchairs, so I can’t speak to what the actual experience is like, and how it compares to having a human push a wheelchair. Purely based on my observations, it seems like they operate pretty reliably, and I’ve never observed any sort of issues.
So I’m curious why these haven’t been adopted on a more widespread basis — are they more expensive than I assume, are there lobbying groups for the employees who would be impacted, are they not as good as they seem, or what?
Bottom line
Miami Airport has autonomous wheelchairs, which have been in service for a little over a year now. Given how labor intensive accessibility services otherwise are, this actually seems like one of the smarter innovations that we’ve seen at airports.
At least based on what I’ve observed, these operate pretty reliably. Given that airlines reportedly pay around $30-35 per wheelchair user, the potential cost savings here seem massive.
What do you make of these autonomous wheelchairs, and do you think we’ll see them at airports on a more widespread basis?
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