Earlier this week, the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group published its long‑awaited report.

Firstly, credit where credit is due. I recognise the effort that went into the consultation – the fact accessibility is even on the agenda is progress.

But after so much discussion, the recommendations feel like little more than lip service and an opportunity for the industry to pat itself on the back for having participated. The group’s chair, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, subsequently told the BBC she didn’t have any budget to work with and no new legislation was planned.

The headline? That airline and airport staff should have disability training. That’s been a legal requirement since 2008 so is this a step backwards? Recommending it now is like recommending lifeguards should learn to swim. Imagine if it was merely recommended that taxi drivers should have a driving licence.

It tells you everything about how small a priority accessibility is for aviation.

At the current pace of change, I won’t live to see aviation achieve the standard of accessibility it should already offer. Aircraft remain inaccessible, services are unreliable, the law is toothless and accountability is non‑existent.

To use a basic economic theory, this is market failure, and the government needs to intervene to correct it. Airlines are designed to maximise load factors and revenue per seat. For them, accessible travel is an inconvenience – a loss making product that doesn’t fit the model.

That’s why the government needs to step in, and not just with warm words. It must be direct and take enforceable action. A carrot in the form of tax incentives for airlines that achieve high accessibility standards. A stick in the form of penalties for airlines, airports and service providers that do not deliver.

’Emotional drain’

But why not think of innovative and commercially viable ways to address the problem? For example, many disabled travellers cannot fly without a companion so they have to pay twice the cost to fly.

If the government and the industry were to work together to introduce a companion ticket policy, which exempts a disabled passenger and one accompanying personal assistant from Air Passenger Duty and taxes, it would make flying a lot more accessible and affordable. By easing taxes, the government can fix the problem and correct the market failure.

Something has to change.

The impact of the current system can’t be overstated – most people just can’t appreciate or understand the emotional drain of flying with a disability unless they live it first-hand.

In my case, there is only one analogy that accurately conveys the emotional impact of flying with a wheelchair. People often say: “Damaging a wheelchair is like damaging your legs.” But it’s worse. When my wheelchair was lost on a recent flight, the only way I can describe the feeling like losing a child. That feeling of loss, worry and anxiety – it’s the only comparison I can make to try to convey this.

Imagine boarding an aircraft and being told by staff they need to take your child away and seat them in a different part of the aircraft, even if they do reassure you they’ll be fine, they’ll look after them and you’ll be reunited at the other end. How would you feel about that?

Then think about how would you feel if you (extremely reluctantly) agreed, only to land and discover they can’t find your child, that no one knows where they are, and the only recourse is to fill out a form and wait a few days while they try to locate them

This is the reality thousands of disabled passengers face every day.

In the 1990s, disabled people were told buses and trains couldn’t be made accessible – that was until activists started chaining themselves to them and forced change through direct action.

So when a government taskforce finally reports back on this, only for "staff training" to be its big idea, it makes me wonder – is direct action the only way we will make progress?

Or perhaps the answer is even simpler. Perhaps it’s time to build our own airline. One that is accessible and profitable, and sets the standard for all passengers – disabled and not disabled – and other airlines.

Limitless Airways. Coming soon.

Angus Drummond, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at the age of 22, is the founder and chief executive of accessible holiday company Limitless Travel. He was last year’s recipient of the John Hays Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Travel Industry Awards by TTG – entries and nominations are open for this year’s awards.