4 ms·

Logistically, this is a pretty big expense; there must be a significant number of people involved to make this happen, considering the likely FAA regulations co

Logistically, this is a pretty big expense; there must be a significant number of people involved to make this happen, considering the likely FAA regulations concerning flight numbers. Hats off to both the airport staff for being willing and able to make this as seamless as it sounds like it is, and to the parents who realized the importance of making this a priority for their child.

jrockway 13y ago
FAA regulations in the UK? You're thinking of the ICAO or CAA. I'm also pretty sure that there aren't many regulations on flight numbers. As long as ATC knows who you are, the government doesn't care what you tell your passengers you are.
- dingaling 13y ago
  > I'm also pretty sure that there aren't many regulations on flight numbers. And generally there are so many flights airborne in UK airspace that the published flight number isn't the one given to ATC. For example, EZY26FR currently overhead my location is published in the timetables as EZY602, but that number can be easily misheard, misquoted or subject to namespace collision on the radio so the airlines are encouraged to use alpha-num callsigns instead. It really annoys me as someone who likes consistency. Why not just publish the actual callsign in the timetable instead of maintaining two systems and cross-referencing between them?
  - bulte-rs 13y ago
    This is only because "regular people"/travelers are not used to alphanumeric flight "numbers". As highlighted in this article: change can be hard.
aptwebapps 13y ago
I assume the parents help out by doing things like booking the seats well in advance. Flight numbers are fairly stable over time as well.
jsmeaton 13y ago
Obviously I know nothing about this person, or the persons particular disability. But I've done a whole lot of work (> 5 years) with autistic kids and a fair amount of training. Hats off to the airport staff for being so accommodating, definitely. But I wonder about the parents. They've gone to great lengths to ensure their son is able to travel and their heart is in the right place. But what happens when the airport can no longer facilitate these conditions? The shit storm that will be unleashed will be ferocious since his expectations have been set in stone over time. I understand that routine is very important to a number of autistic people. But not everything can be controlled. Staff move on, different passengers travel on different days and the weather changes. There are infinite variables. My particular strategy would be to control the things that can be controlled. Introduce artificial events that you can keep constant. Perhaps a set of clothes designed only for flights. A trip to a fast food outlet on the way to the airport. A particular toy or electronic device (radio?) for the trip. This all sets up an expectation for what is about to happen, hopefully reducing the need for specific events - like the same airport staff being in a particular place, or the same seats on a flight. And maybe the parents have tried all of this before or know it just won't work with their son. Everybody is different, and not all strategies work with the same people. But I think they're setting themselves up big time if they don't start slowly removing the 'constants' that can't be indefinitely controlled.

jrockway 13y ago

FAA regulations in the UK? You're thinking of the ICAO or CAA. I'm also pretty sure that there aren't many regulations on flight numbers. As long as ATC knows who you are, the government doesn't care what you tell your passengers you are.

dingaling 13y ago
> I'm also pretty sure that there aren't many regulations on flight numbers. And generally there are so many flights airborne in UK airspace that the published flight number isn't the one given to ATC. For example, EZY26FR currently overhead my location is published in the timetables as EZY602, but that number can be easily misheard, misquoted or subject to namespace collision on the radio so the airlines are encouraged to use alpha-num callsigns instead. It really annoys me as someone who likes consistency. Why not just publish the actual callsign in the timetable instead of maintaining two systems and cross-referencing between them?
- bulte-rs 13y ago
  This is only because "regular people"/travelers are not used to alphanumeric flight "numbers". As highlighted in this article: change can be hard.

aptwebapps 13y ago

I assume the parents help out by doing things like booking the seats well in advance. Flight numbers are fairly stable over time as well.

jsmeaton 13y ago

Obviously I know nothing about this person, or the persons particular disability. But I've done a whole lot of work (> 5 years) with autistic kids and a fair amount of training. Hats off to the airport staff for being so accommodating, definitely. But I wonder about the parents. They've gone to great lengths to ensure their son is able to travel and their heart is in the right place. But what happens when the airport can no longer facilitate these conditions? The shit storm that will be unleashed will be ferocious since his expectations have been set in stone over time. I understand that routine is very important to a number of autistic people. But not everything can be controlled. Staff move on, different passengers travel on different days and the weather changes. There are infinite variables. My particular strategy would be to control the things that can be controlled. Introduce artificial events that you can keep constant. Perhaps a set of clothes designed only for flights. A trip to a fast food outlet on the way to the airport. A particular toy or electronic device (radio?) for the trip. This all sets up an expectation for what is about to happen, hopefully reducing the need for specific events - like the same airport staff being in a particular place, or the same seats on a flight. And maybe the parents have tried all of this before or know it just won't work with their son. Everybody is different, and not all strategies work with the same people. But I think they're setting themselves up big time if they don't start slowly removing the 'constants' that can't be indefinitely controlled.