US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has announced a new proposed rule from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that would ensure airline passengers who use wheelchairs can travel safely and with more dignity. He says that, if passed, the rule the would represent the largest expansion of rights for airline passengers who use wheelchairs since its seat-strapping rule in 2008.
The proposed rule would require that airlines meet rigorous standards for accommodating passengers with disabilities. The standards relate to prompt, safe and dignified assistance procedures, and mandate-enhanced training for airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with disabilities and handle passengers’ wheelchairs.
Buttigieg has also specified actions that airlines must take to protect passengers if their wheelchair is damaged during transport. The proposed rule would also make it easier for the DOT to hold airlines accountable if they damage or delay the return of a wheelchair, by making the mishandling of wheelchairs an automatic violation of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA).
The full details of the proposed rule are below.
“There are millions of Americans with disabilities who do not travel by plane because of inadequate airline practices and inadequate government regulation, but now we are setting out to change that,” said Secretary Buttigieg. “This new rule would change the way airlines operate to ensure that travellers using wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.”
An estimated 5.5 million Americans use a wheelchair, and many of them encounter barriers when it comes to air travel. In 2023, 11,527 wheelchairs and scooters were mishandled by carriers, and they were required to report this data to the DOT.
The proposed rule would take actions in three key areas:
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Penalties and remedies for wheelchair mishandling
(a) Mishandling wheelchairs as automatic violations of the ACAA: Proposes to make an airline’s mishandling of assistive devices, like wheelchairs, an automatic violation of the Air Carrier Access Act, allowing the DOT to more easily penalise airlines and hold them accountable when a passenger’s mobility device is damaged.
The proposed rule defines “mishandled” as being lost, delayed, damaged, or stolen.
It also proposes that airlines be required to immediately notify affected passengers of their right to file a claim with the airline, receive a wheelchair on loan from the airline, choose a preferred vendor for device repairs or replacements, and have a Complaints Resolution Officer available.
(b) Prompt repair or replacement of damaged wheelchairs: Proposes to require passengers be provided two options to repair or replace their wheelchairs if mishandled by an airline:
The carrier handles the repair, or replaces the wheelchair with one of an equivalent or greater function and safety within a reasonable timeframe and pays the associated cost; or
The passenger arranges the repair or replacement of the wheelchair with an equivalent or greater function and safety through their preferred vendor, and the airline pays the associated costs.
(c) Wheelchair lending accommodations: Proposes to require airlines to provide ‘loaner’ wheelchairs while an individual is waiting on repairs or replacement of a mishandled wheelchair. Also proposes that airlines be required to consult with the passenger receiving the loaner to ensure it fits their needs as much as possible.
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Safe, dignified and prompt assistance
(a) Enhanced airline employee training: Proposes annual training, including hands-on training, of airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with mobility disabilities or handle passengers’ wheelchairs.
(b) Prompt return of delayed wheelchairs: Proposes that airlines be required to transport a delayed wheelchair to the passenger’s final destination within 24 hours of the passenger’s arrival, by whatever means possible.
(c) Safe and dignified assistance: Proposes to require that all assistance from airlines provided to individuals with disabilities be safe and dignified. Note that disability rights advocates have reported to the DOT that airlines frequently provide unsafe and undignified assistance that results in physical injuries and emotional distress to passengers with disabilities.
(d) Prompt assistance: Proposes that airlines be required to provide prompt assistance to passengers with disabilities when enplaning, deplaning, or moving through the airport terminal. The proposal defines prompt assistance for a person who uses a boarding chair to disembark an aircraft to mean:
Personnel and boarding wheelchair are available to deplane the passenger when the last passenger not requesting assistance deplanes the aircraft; and the passenger’s personal wheelchair is available as close as possible to the door of the aircraft to the maximum extent possible, if requested.
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Improved standards on planes
(a) Improved standards for on-board wheelchairs: Proposes new improved performance standards for on-board wheelchairs on twin-aisle aircraft and single-aisle aircraft, consistent with existing standards for single-aisle aircraft with 125 or more seats.
(b) Notifications after loading and unloading: Proposes to require airlines to notify passengers in a timely manner when their wheelchairs have been loaded and unloaded from the cargo compartment of their flights, and to immediately notify passengers upon learning that the passenger’s wheelchair does not fit on the aircraft.
The proposed rule also seeks comments on two additional issues:
(a) Size standards for lavatories on twin-aisle aircraft: The proposal seeks comments regarding whether to specify that a lavatory on twin-aisle aircraft needs to be of sufficient size to permit both a passenger with a disability and an attendant to enter and manoeuvre within it.
(b) Reimbursement of airfare difference: The proposal seeks comments regarding whether US and foreign air carriers should be required to reimburse the difference between the fare on a flight a wheelchair user took and the fare on a flight that the wheelchair user would have taken if their wheelchair had been able to fit in the aircraft.
The proposals build on Secretary Buttigieg’s previous initiatives for improving air travel for people with disabilities. In July 2023, the DOT finalised a rule requiring that airline lavatories be accessible to people with disabilities. The Department also established the first Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights to help educate passengers with disabilities about their rights when they travel. The DOT has also begun preliminary groundwork for a possible future rule that would address the possibility of passengers staying in their own wheelchairs when they fly.
The Department invites members of the public and interested parties to submit comments on the proposed rule. Comments must be received within 60 days of the date the notice being published in the Federal Register. The proposal can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/latest-news.
