Virgin Australia apologises to disability advocate removed from flight over wheelchair motor

Virgin Australia Issues Formal Apology After Wheelchair User Removed from Sydney Flight

Wanderstayfinder.com – A viral video showing a quadriplegic passenger being ejected from a domestic flight has forced Virgin Australia to issue a formal apology, though the airline’s late response has drawn criticism from the passenger himself. Shane Hryhorec, a 41-year-old disability advocate based in Adelaide, received a phone call on Wednesday afternoon in which the carrier offered its regrets — two full days after his clip of the incident racked up millions of views across social platforms.

The footage, which has accumulated roughly 16 million combined views on TikTok and Instagram, captures the tense exchange between Hryhorec and cabin crew aboard a Virgin Australia flight departing Sydney. In the clip, Hryhorec calmly explains that he had completed three prior Virgin Australia flights within the same week without any difficulty. Crew members can be heard directing him to stow the motor unit beneath his seat, despite there being no practical space to secure it safely. One staff member goes further, telling him that the crew on his earlier flights “have done the wrong thing then, just to accommodate you,” and asking him to delete the videos he had already recorded. He was subsequently removed from the aircraft.

The Equipment at the Centre of the Dispute

Hryhorec lives with C5 incomplete quadriplegia and relies on a wheelchair fitted with a SmartDrive power-assist motor. On his earlier legs of the journey, cabin staff had permitted him to place the SmartDrive unit in the overhead locker. On the final leg, however, a newly implemented storage rule required him to tuck the motor under the seat. The business-class armrest directly in front of his position made that arrangement physically impossible, leaving him with no compliant option.

“I was upset, I was angry, I was humiliated,” he said, describing the moment he was taken off the plane.

Apology Arrives Under Pressure

Hryhorec told the Guardian Australia that he had received two earlier phone calls from the airline in the days following the incident, but neither contained an actual apology. It was only on Wednesday’s call that the carrier formally expressed its regret.

“It’s nice to hear them take ownership of this – which airlines don’t typically do – but I felt that the pressure was building on them and they had no choice, which is a bit disappointing,” Hryhorec said. “You want them to make change, not because of the brand damage, but because it’s the right thing to do.”

In a written statement, Virgin Australia said it “sincerely apologises to Mr Shane Hryhorec following his recent experience” and added: “We regret what occurred and acknowledge that we did not meet our own standards in how we handled this situation.” The carrier went on to state that “Mr Hryhorec’s experience was below what we expect for our customers, and we are deeply sorry for the distress and frustration this caused him.” The airline confirmed it had contacted Hryhorec to understand his account and pledged to “learn from this and strive to meet the standards that everyone at Virgin Australia aspires to deliver.”

A Pattern of Friction at Every Touchpoint

Hryhorec’s ordeal is not an isolated episode. In April of this year, Adelaide Airport issued its own apology after a ground-staff member told him his mother would be unable to collect him from the designated disability parking bay because she lacked a permit. For Hryhorec, these incidents point to a systemic problem rather than a one-off lapse.

“Every touch point in the airline industry is ableist,” he said. “Can you imagine if every time you fly, you get a lucky dip and if you pull the wrong dip you get booted off a plane or you have your wheelchair damaged? This happens to people with disabilities every day.”

He has lodged a formal complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and has stated he will not withdraw it until he is satisfied the airline will implement concrete operational changes.

“The goal is simple: people with disabilities should be able to fly in Australia without stress and anxiety and burdens put upon them,” he said.

Regulatory Backdrop and Broader Implications

The incident lands against a backdrop of growing scrutiny over how Australian aviation handles accessibility. Between 2016 and 2022, the Human Rights Commission received more than 100 disability-discrimination complaints directed at airlines. In 2024, the federal government released its aviation white paper, which explicitly acknowledged that people with disability encounter barriers across every stage of an air-travel journey. The paper committed the sector to aviation-specific disability standards, including enforceable obligations for both airlines and airports.

Whether those commitments translate into enforceable on-the-ground rules remains an open question. Hryhorec’s case highlights a particular gap: the moment a new storage policy is introduced without adequate training, physical-space verification, or a clear escalation path for passengers whose equipment does not fit the prescribed location. For a passenger whose mobility depends entirely on a powered wheelchair, being told to comply with a rule that is physically impossible — and then removed from the aircraft for non-compliance — transforms a routine travel inconvenience into what he describes as public humiliation.

The viral reach of the video, crossing 16 million views within days, underscores how quickly a single cabin-interaction can become a national conversation about disability rights in transport. For Hryhorec, the apology is a necessary but insufficient step. What he is pressing for is a structural guarantee: that the next passenger in a SmartDrive-equipped wheelchair boarding a Virgin Australia flight will not face a coin-flip between being accommodated and being ejected.