Branson offers to fly Hawking to the stars

British billionaire Richard Branson said he is ready to accomodate well-known physicist Stephen Hawking on a sub-orbitatal space flight on his new Virgin Galactic venture.
Branson sounds committed to accommodating other disabled passengers too.
Why can this be done for a space craft and still have regular old air travel be so difficult? (Photo by Allan Kilgour via morgueFile.com)