Flying Into Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, or Miami With a Wheelchair or Stretcher: A Family Guide

Every fall, thousands of seasonal residents land at Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Miami, and plenty of them need more than a taxi line at the end of the flight. If your parent uses a wheelchair, walks slowly, or can't sit up for a long ride, the trip from the airport to the front door deserves as much planning as the flight itself.

Here's how to set it up, whether your loved one is flying on a regular airline or arriving on a private or air ambulance flight.

On a regular airline: book the airline's wheelchair help first

Under federal law, U.S. airlines must provide wheelchair assistance through the airport at no charge. It's the airline's job to get your loved one from the plane to the terminal, so start there.

• Request wheelchair assistance when you book the ticket, then confirm it with the airline about 48 hours before the flight.
• If your loved one has their own wheelchair or walker, airlines carry it at no charge, and it doesn't count toward the bag limit.
• Ask where the airline's wheelchair agent will bring them on arrival. Usually it's baggage claim or the terminal exit, and that's where our driver meets them.

Tell us the flight, and we'll plan the pickup

When you book the ride with us, give dispatch the details below. They let us plan the right vehicle and the right meeting point.

• The airport: Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Palm Beach (PBI), or Miami (MIA).
• The airline, the flight number, and the scheduled arrival time, and whether it's an international flight.
• How many bags are coming, and whether a wheelchair or walker is traveling with them.
• Whether your loved one can ride seated, needs to stay in their wheelchair, or needs to lie down.
• The address they're going to, plus any gate or condo instructions.

Our driver meets your loved one at the terminal entrance rather than circling the curb lane, helps them into the vehicle, and brings them all the way to the front door. For international arrivals, we plan for up to an hour of waiting while your loved one clears customs and immigration, and we factor it into the quote. A family member can ride along at no extra charge. Local one-way rides start at $90 for ambulatory, $110 for wheelchair transportation, and $220 for stretcher transport, and you hear the full price before you book.

If your loved one can't sit up for the flight

Regular airline seats are no help to someone who has to lie down, and most U.S. flights have no way to carry a stretcher. Families in this situation usually choose one of two options:

• A medical escort on a regular flight, for patients who can sit up for the flight but shouldn't travel alone. A flight nurse or paramedic travels with them from bedside to bedside.
• A private medical flight or air ambulance, for patients who need to stay lying down the whole way.

Commercial Medical Escorts, founded by ETA co-founder Blake Yturralde, has arranged a medical escort for the flight home for patients on commercial airlines since 2006. When the trip involves a flight, we handle the ride on the ground at either end.

Private jets and air ambulance flights

Private and medical flights usually use a private aviation terminal, often called an FBO, instead of the main airport terminal. Signature Aviation at Palm Beach International, Boca Raton Airport, and Opa-locka Executive Airport in Miami-Dade are among those we've worked at. With the terminal's permission, our crew can meet the aircraft on the ramp.

For stretcher patients, that means the crew brings the stretcher right to the aircraft door, and the transfer happens planeside instead of across a terminal. From there it's bed to bed: into our vehicle, home or to the hospital, and into the destination bed.

• Ask the flight operator which terminal they'll use and the expected arrival time.
• Give dispatch the operator's contact, so we can coordinate timing and ramp access with the terminal.
• Tell us about oxygen, medications, or equipment traveling with the patient.

Heading home at the end of the season

The same planning works in reverse. Book the ride to the airport when you book the flight, and allow extra time: we'd rather have your loved one at the terminal early than rushing to the gate. For a private or medical flight, we can bring them to the aircraft the same way.

The airport checklist

• Book the airline's wheelchair assistance with the ticket, and confirm it 48 hours ahead.
• Send dispatch the airport, airline, flight number, and arrival time.
• Tell us how many bags and what mobility equipment is traveling.
• Decide whether your loved one rides seated, in their wheelchair, or on a stretcher.
• For private or medical flights, share the terminal and the operator's contact.

How Essential Transport Assistance can help

Essential Transport Assistance is a family-owned medical transportation company based in Coral Springs, serving Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties, including airport rides at FLL, PBI, and MIA and pickups at private aviation terminals. If your parent spends the winter here, see how we set up the season for snowbirds, or read our checklist for out-of-state family. To plan an airport ride, call 954.477.7340.