AI illustration: Adult helping older parents read a fictional airport instruction sheet. Fictional scene, not an actual location, person or service.
Make a short, readable route through the airport, not a small-print travel dossier. Fill it from the issued itinerary and confirmed assistance details.
Put the journey identity at the top
Use the travellers’ names as on the ticket, local travel date, flight number, airport and terminal for each leg. Add the airline booking reference only if the sheet will be kept private. Do not print a passport number, payment-card details or passwords. Use large type and the language your parents read comfortably.
Write the airport steps in order
Use short instructions: “Go to this airline’s check-in/bag-drop desk. Show your ticket and ID. After security, check the departure screen for the flight number. Go to the gate shown there.” Do not preprint an unconfirmed gate or tell them to follow another passenger. Put the airline’s confirmed check-in and boarding deadlines on the sheet, rather than a generic arrival-time rule.
Describe assistance as a confirmed handoff
If mobility help is needed, request it from the airline in advance and note where to report and whom to ask. Air India says wheelchair requests should be recorded for each flight and interline segment. Do not write “someone will meet you” unless the arrangement is confirmed. Assistance is not a reason to omit check-in or boarding deadlines.
Add a connection and arrival box
For a connection, specify the onward flight number and explain which questions to ask staff: “Do I collect my bag here? Do I need to change terminals? Where do I go for the next flight?” Fill the answers only from the actual booking and airport/airline guidance. For arrival, add the named pickup person, known contact and agreed meeting point, not simply “driver outside”.
Rehearse one problem step
Add: “If the flight, gate or route changes, show this sheet to the airline desk. Call this family contact using your own saved number.” Test whether the contact and phone work, keep a second offline copy and check the itinerary again before departure. The sheet supports the journey; it does not replace the ticket, travel documents or current airport instructions.
Questions before you travel
Should I print the gate?
Only if confirmed, and still instruct them to check current screens. Gates can change.
Can I promise wheelchair staff will meet them?
Only describe the actual confirmed arrangement and reporting point.
What should stay off the sheet?
Passwords, payment-card details and unnecessary passport or other sensitive identifiers.
A Miranda House graduate and lawyer who traded courtrooms for slow travel. Cheshta travels with the batches we host ourselves, with a soft spot for travelling alongside elders.
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