CONTENTS
- The New Traveling Environment
- Getting Advance Information About
the Aircraft
- When Advance Notice Can Be Required
- When Attendants Can Be Required
- Airport Accessibility
- Moving Through the Airport
- Passenger Information
- Security Screening
- Medical Certificates
- Communicable Diseases
- The Safety Briefing
- Handling of Mobility Aids and
Assistive Devices
- Boarding and Deplaning
- Aircraft Accessibility
- Personnel Training
- Seat Assignments
- Service Animals
- In-Cabin Service
- Charges for Accommodations
Prohibited
For years, access to the nation's air
travel system for persons with disabilities was an area of substantial
dissatisfaction, with both passengers and the airline industry
recognizing the need for major improvement. In 1986 Congress passed the
Air Carrier Access Act, requiring the Department of Transportation (DOT)
to develop new regulations which ensure that persons with disabilities
will be treated without discrimination in a way consistent with the safe
carriage of all passengers. These regulations were published in March
1990.
The DOT regulations, referred to here
as the Air Carrier Access rules, represent a major stride forward in
improving air travel for persons with disabilities. The rules clearly
explain the responsibilities of the traveler, the carriers, the airport
operators, and contractors, who collectively make up the system which
moves over one million passengers per day. (These rules do not apply to
foreign airlines.)
The Air Carrier Access rules are
designed to minimize the special problems that travelers with
disabilities face as they negotiate their way through the nation's
complex air travel system from origin to destination. This is achieved:
- By recognizing that the physical
barriers encountered by passengers with disabilities can frequently
be overcome by employing simple changes in layout and technology.
- By adopting the principle that many
difficulties confronting passengers with hearing or vision
impairments will be relieved if they are provided access to the same
information that is available to all other passengers.
- Through training of all air travel
personnel who come in day-to-day contact with persons with
disabilities, to understand their needs and how they can be
accommodated quickly, safely, and with dignity.
This guide is designed to offer
travelers with disabilities a brief but authoritative source of
information about the Air Carrier Access rules: the accommodations,
facilities, and services that are now required to be available. It also
describes features required by other regulations designed to make air
travel more accessible.
The guide is structured in much the
same sequence as a passenger would plan for a trip: the circumstances he
or she must consider prior to traveling, what will be encountered at the
airport, and what to expect in the transitions from airport to airplane,
on the plane, and then airplane to airport.
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The New Traveling Environment
THE AIR CARRIER ACCESS RULES SWEEP
aside many restrictions that formerly discriminated against passengers
with disabilities:
- A carrier may not refuse
transportation to a passenger solely on the basis of a disability.
- Air carriers may not limit the
number of individuals with disabilities on a particular flight.
- All trip information that is made
available to other passengers also must be made available to
passengers with disabilities.
- Carriers must provide passage to an
individual who has a disability that may affect his or her
appearance or involuntary behavior, even if this disability may
offend, annoy, or be an inconvenience to crew-members or other
passengers.
There are a few exceptions:
- The carrier may refuse
transportation if the individual with a disability would endanger
the health or safety of other passengers, or transporting the person
would be a violation of FAA safety rules.
- If the plane has fewer than 30
seats, the carrier may refuse transportation if there are no lifts,
boarding chairs or other devices available which can be adapted to
the limitations of such small aircraft by which to enplane the
passenger. Airline personnel are not required to carry a
mobility-impaired person onto the aircraft by hand.
- There are special rules about
persons with certain disabilities or communicable diseases. These
rules are covered in the chapter entitled "At the Airport."
- The carrier may refuse
transportation if it is unable to seat the passenger without
violating the FAA Exit Row Seating rules. See the chapter "On the Plane."
There are new procedures for resolving
disputes:
- All carriers are now required to
have a Complaints Resolution Official (CRO) immediately available
(even if by phone) to resolve disagreements which may arise between
the carrier and passengers with disabilities.
- Travelers who disagree with a
carrier's actions toward them can pursue the issue with the
carrier's CRO on the spot.
- A carrier that refuses
transportation to any person based on a disability must provide a
written statement to that person within 10 calendar days, stating
the basis for the refusal. The statement must include, where
applicable, the basis for the carrier's opinion that transporting
the person could be harmful to the safety of the flight.
- If the passenger is still not
satisfied, he or she may pursue DOT enforcement action.
Getting Advance Information About
the Aircraft
Travelers with disabilities must be
provided information upon request concerning facilities and services
available to them. When feasible this information will pertain to the
specific aircraft scheduled for a specific flight. Such information
includes:
- Any limitations which may be known
to the carrier concerning the ability of the aircraft to accommodate
an individual with a disability;
- The location of seats (if any) with
movable aisle armrests and any seats which the carrier does not make
available to an individual with a disability (e.g., exit rows);
- Any limitations on the availability
of storage facilities in the cabin or in the cargo bay for mobility
aids or other equipment commonly used by an individual with a
disability;
- Whether the aircraft has an
accessible lavatory.
Normally, advance information about the
aircraft will be requested by phone. Any carrier that provides telephone
service for the purpose of making reservations or offering general
information must provide comparable services for hearing-impaired
individuals, utilizing telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs),
or text telephones (TTs). The TTs shall be available during the same
hours that the general public has access to regular phone service. The
response time to answer calls on the TT line shall also be equivalent to
the response time available to the general public. Charges for the call,
if any, shall be the same as charges made to the general public.
When Advance Notice Can Be Required
Airlines may not require passengers
with disabilities to provide advance notice of their intent to travel or
of their disability except as provided below. Nonetheless, letting the
airline know in advance how they can help you will generally result in a
smoother trip.
Carriers may require up to 48 hours
advance notice and one hour advance check-in from a person with a
disability who wishes to receive any of the following services:
- Transportation for an electric
wheelchair on an aircraft with fewer than 60 seats;
- Provision by the carrier of
hazardous materials packaging for the battery of a wheelchair or
other assistive device;
- Accommodations for 10 or more
passengers with disabilities who travel as a group;
- Provision of an on-board wheelchair
on an aircraft that does not have an accessible lavatory for persons
who can use an inaccessible lavatory but need an on-board chair to
do so.
Carriers are not required to provide
the following services or equipment, but should they choose to provide
them, they may require 48 hours advance notice and a one hour advance
check-in:
Where a service is required by the
rule, the airline must ensure that it is provided if appropriate notice
has been given and the service requested is available on that particular
flight. If a passenger does not meet advance notice or check-in
requirements, carriers must make a reasonable effort to accommodate the
requested service, providing this does not delay the flight.
If a passenger with a disability
provides the required notice but is required to fly on another carrier
(for example, if the flight is cancelled), the original carrier must, to
the maximum extent feasible, provide assistance to the second carrier in
furnishing the accommodation requested by the individual.
It must be recognized that even when a
passenger has requested information in advance on the accessibility
features of the scheduled aircraft, carriers sometimes have to
substitute a different aircraft at the last minute for safety,
mechanical or other reasons. It must also be recognized that the
substitute aircraft may not be as fully accessible--a condition that may
prevail for a number of years. On-board wheelchairs must be available on
many aircraft, but it will take a number of years before movable aisle
armrests are available on all aircraft with over 30 seats. Similarly,
while accessible lavatories must be built into all new wide-body
aircraft, they will be put into existing aircraft only when such
aircraft are undergoing a major interior refurbishment.
When Attendants Can Be Required
Carriers may require the following
individuals to be accompanied by an attendant:
- A person traveling on a stretcher or
in an incubator (for flights where such service is offered);
- A person who, because of a mental
disability, is unable to comprehend or respond appropriately to
safety instructions from carrier personnel;
- A person with a mobility impairment
so severe that the individual is unable to assist in his or her own
evacuation from the aircraft;
- A person who has both severe hearing
and severe vision impairments which prevent him or her from
receiving and acting on necessary instructions from carrier
personnel when evacuating the aircraft during an emergency.
The carrier and the passenger may
disagree about the applicability of one of these criteria. In such
cases, the airline can require the passenger to travel with an
attendant, contrary to the passenger's assurances that he or she can
travel alone. However, the carrier cannot charge for the transportation
of the attendant.
The airline can choose an attendant in
a number of ways. It could designate an-off duty employee who happened
to be traveling on the same flight to act as the attendant. The carrier
or the passenger with a disability could seek a volunteer from among
other passengers on the flight to act as the attendant. The carrier
could provide a free ticket to an attendant of the passenger's choice
for that flight segment. In the end, however, a carrier is not required
to find or furnish an attendant.
The attendant would not be required to
provide personal service to the passenger with a disability other than
to provide assistance in the event of an emergency evacuation. This is
in contrast to the case of the passenger that usually travels
accompanied by a personal attendant, who would provide the passenger
whatever service he or she requests.
If there is not a seat available on the
flight for an attendant, and as a result a person with a disability
holding a confirmed reservation is denied travel on the flight, the
passenger with a disability is eligible for denied boarding
compensation.
For purposes of determining whether a
seat is available for an attendant, the attendant shall be deemed to
have checked in at the same time as the person with the disability.
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At the Airport
Airport Accessibility
UNTIL RECENTLY, ONLY THOSE AIRPORT
facilities designed, constructed, or renovated by or for a recipient of
federal funds had to comply with federal accessibility standards. Even
at federally-assisted airports, not all facilities and activities were
required to be accessible. Examples are privately-owned ground
transportation and concessions selling goods or services to the public.
(The accessibility features for over 500 airports are covered in a
publication of the Airports Council International entitled Access
Travel: Airports--A Guide to the Accessibility Of Terminals. It may be
obtained by writing the Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, CO 81009.)
As a result of the Air Carrier Access rules, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and implementing regulations, these
privately-owned facilities must also be made accessible.
In general, airports under construction
or being refurbished must comply with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG)
and other regulations governing accessibility in accordance with a
timetable established in the ADA. Thus, while there are still many
changes to be made, the accessibility of most airports is improving.
With few exceptions, the following services should be available in all
air carrier terminals within the next few years:
- Accessible parking near the
terminal;
- Signs indicating accessible parking
and the easiest access from those spaces to the terminal;
- Accessible medical aid facilities
and travelers aid stations;
- Accessible restrooms;
- Accessible drinking fountains;
- Accessible ticketing systems at
primary fare collection areas;
- Amplified telephones and text
telephones (TTs) for use by persons with hearing and speech
impairments (there must be at least one TT in each terminal in a
clearly marked accessible location);
- Accessible baggage check-in and
retrieval areas;
- Jetways and mobile lounges that are
accessible (at airports that have such facilities);
- Level entry boarding ramps, lifts or
other means of assisting an individual with a disability on and off
an aircraft;
- Information systems using visual
words, letters or symbols with lighting and color coding, and
systems for providing information orally;
- Signs indicating the location of
specific facilities and services.
Moving Through the Airport
To make travel easier for an individual
with a disability, major airports will be required to make the following
services accessible under new rules being put into effect in the next
several years:
- Shuttle vehicles, owned or operated
by airports, transporting people between parking lots and terminal
buildings;
- People movers and moving walkways
within and between terminals and gates.
All carrier facilities must currently
include one accessible route from an airport entrance to ticket
counters, boarding locations and baggage handling areas. These routes
must minimize any extra distance that wheelchair users must travel
compared to other passengers to reach these facilities. Outbound and
inbound baggage facilities must provide efficient baggage handling for
individuals with a disability, and these facilities must be designed and
operated so as to be accessible. There must be appropriate signs to
indicate the location of accessible services.
Carriers cannot restrict the movements
of persons with disabilities in terminals or require them to remain in a
holding area or other location while awaiting transportation and other
assistance.
Curbside baggage check-in (available
only for domestic flights) may be helpful to passengers with a
disability.
Passenger Information
Carriers must ensure that individuals
with disabilities, including those with vision and hearing impairments,
have timely access to the same information provided to other passengers,
including (but not limited to) information on:
- ticketing;
- scheduled departure times and gates;
- change of gate assignments;
- status of flight delays;
- schedule changes;
- flight check-in;
- checking and claiming of luggage.
This information must be made available
upon request. A crew member is not required to interrupt his or her
immediate safety duties to supply such information.
A copy of the Air Carrier Access rules
must be made available by carriers for inspection upon request at each
airport.
As previously noted, any carrier that
provides telephone service for the purpose of making reservations or
offering general information shall also provide TT service. This service
for people with speech and hearing impairments must be available during
the same hours that the general public has access to regular phone
service, with equivalent response times and charges.
Security Screening
An individual with a disability must
undergo the same security screening as any other member of the traveling
public.
If an individual with a disability is
able to pass through the security system without activating it, the
person shall not be subject to special screening procedures. Security
personnel are free to examine an assistive device that they believe is
capable of concealing a weapon or other prohibited item. If an
individual with a disability is not able to pass through the system
without activating it, the person will be subject to further screening
in the same manner as any other passenger activating the system.
Security screening personnel at some
airports may employ a hand-held device that will allow them to complete
the screening without having to physically search the individual. If
this method is still unable to clear the individual and a physical
search becomes necessary, then at the passenger's request, the search
must be done in private.
If the passenger requests a private
screening in a timely manner, the carrier must provide it in time for
the passenger to board the aircraft. Such private screenings will not be
required, however, to a greater extent or for any different reason than
for other passengers. . However, they may take more time.
Medical Certificates
A medical certificate is a written
statement from the passenger's physician saying that the passenger is
capable of completing the flight safely without requiring extraordinary
medical care.
A disability is not sufficient grounds
for a carrier to request a medical certificate. Carriers shall not
require passengers to present a medical certificate unless the person:
- Is on a stretcher or in an incubator
(where such service is offered);
- Needs medical oxygen during flight
(where such service is offered);
- Has a medical condition which causes
the carrier to have reasonable doubt that the individual can
complete the flight safely, without requiring extraordinary medical
assistance during the flight; or
- Has a communicable disease or
infection that has been determined by federal public health
authorities to be generally transmittable during flight.
If the medical certificate is
necessitated by a communicable disease (see next section), it must
say that the disease or infection will not be communicable to other
persons during the normal course of flight, or it shall state any
conditions or precautions that would have to be observed to prevent
transmission of the disease or infection to others.
Carriers cannot mandate separate
treatment for an individual with a disability except for reasons of
safety or to prevent the spread of a communicable disease or infection.
Communicable Diseases
As part of their responsibility to
their passengers, air carriers try to prevent the spread of infection or
a communicable disease on board an aircraft. If a person who seeks
passage has an infection or disease that would be transmittable during
the normal course of a flight, and that has been deemed so by a federal
public health authority knowledgeable about the disease or infection,
then the carrier may:
- Refuse to provide transportation to
the person;
- Require the person to provide a
medical certificate stating that the disease at its current stage
would not be transmittable during the normal course of flight, or
describing measures which would prevent transmission during flight;
- Impose on the person a condition or
requirement not imposed on other passengers (e.g., wearing a mask).
If the individual has a contagious
disease but presents a medical certificate describing conditions or
precautions that would prevent the transmission of the disease
during the flight, the carrier shall provide transportation unless
it is not feasible to act upon the conditions set forth in the
certificate to prevent transmission of the disease.
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Getting On And Off The Plane
The Safety Briefing
FAA REGULATIONS REQUIRE THAT carrier
personnel provide a safety briefing to all passengers before takeoff.
This briefing is for the passengers' own safety and is intended for that
purpose only.
Carrier personnel may offer an
individual briefing to a person whose disability precludes him or her
from receiving the information presented in the general briefing. The
individual briefing must be provided as inconspicuously and discretely
as possible. Most carriers choose to offer this briefing before other
passengers board the flight if the passenger with a disability chooses
to pre-board the flight. A carrier can present the special briefing at
any time before takeoff that does not interfere with other safety
duties.
Carriers may not ‘quiz’ the
individual about the material presented in the briefing, except to the
same degree they quiz all passengers about the general briefing. A
carrier cannot take any adverse action against the passenger on the
basis that, in the carrier's opinion, the passenger did not understand
the safety briefing.
Safety briefings presented to
passengers on video screens must have an open caption or an insert for a
sign language interpreter, unless this would interfere with the video or
would not be large enough to be seen. This requirement takes effect as
old videos are replaced in the normal course of business.
Handling of Mobility Aids and
Assistive Devices
To the extent consistent with various
FAA safety regulations, passengers may bring on board and use
ventilators and respirators, powered by non-spillable batteries.
Assistive devices brought into the cabin by an individual with a
disability shall not count toward a limit on carry-on items.
Persons using canes and other assistive
devices may stow these items on board the aircraft, consistent with
safety regulations. Carriers shall permit passengers to stow wheelchairs
or component parts of a mobility device under seats, or in overhead
compartments.
Carriers must permit one folding
wheelchair to be stowed in a cabin closet, or other approved priority
storage area, if the aircraft has such areas and stowage can be
accomplished in accordance with FAA safety regulations. If the passenger
using it pre-boards, stowage of the wheelchair takes priority over the
carry-on items brought on by other passengers enplaning at the same
airport (including passengers in another cabin, such as First Class),
but not over items of passengers who boarded at previous stops.
When stowed in the cargo compartment,
wheelchairs and other assistive devices must be given priority over
cargo and baggage, and must be among the first items unloaded. Mobility
aids shall be returned to the owner as close as possible to the door of
the aircraft (consistent with DOT hazardous materials regulations) or at
the baggage claim area, in accordance with whatever request was made by
the passenger before boarding.
If the priority storage accorded to
mobility aids prevents another passenger's baggage from being carried,
the carrier shall make its best efforts to ensure the other baggage
arrives within four hours.
On certain aircraft, some assistive
devices will have to be disassembled in order to be transported (e.g.,
electric wheelchairs, other devices too large to fit in the cabin or in
the cargo hold in one piece). When assistive devices are disassembled,
carriers are obligated to return them to passengers in the condition
that the carrier received them (e.g., assembled).
Carriers must transport battery-powered
wheelchairs, except where cargo compartment size or aircraft
airworthiness considerations do not permit doing so. Electric
wheelchairs must be treated in accordance with both DOT regulations for
handling hazardous materials, and DOT Air Carrier Access regulations,
which differentiate between spillable and non-spillable batteries:
Spillable Batteries. If the
chair is powered by a spillable battery, the battery must be removed
unless the wheelchair can be loaded, stored, secured, and unloaded
always in an upright position. When it is possible to load, store,
secure, and unload with the wheelchair always in an upright position and
the battery is securely attached to the wheelchair, the carrier may not
remove the battery from the chair.
Non-spillable batteries. It is
never necessary under the DOT hazardous materials regulations to remove
a non-spillable battery from a wheelchair before stowing it. There may
be individual cases, however, in which a carrier is unable to determine
whether a battery is spillable or non-spillable. DOT has issued new
rules that require new non-spillable batteries to be marked as such
effective September 1995.
The carrier may remove a particular
unmarked battery from the mobility aid if there is reasonable doubt that
it is non-spillable, and it cannot be loaded, stored, secured and
unloaded always in an upright position. An across-the-board assumption
that all batteries are spillable is not consistent with the Air Carrier
Access rules.
A non-spillable battery may be removed
where it appears to be damaged and leakage of battery fluid is possible.
Determining the Battery Type. Compliance
with DOT rules on the marking of non-spillable batteries is sufficient
to identify a battery as non-spillable for this purpose. In the absence
of such markings, carrier personnel are responsible for determining, on
a case-by-case basis, whether a battery is non-spillable, taking into
account information provided by the user of the wheelchair.
The battery of a wheelchair may not be
drained.
When DOT hazardous materials
regulations require detaching the battery from the wheelchair, the
carrier shall upon request provide packaging for the battery that will
meet safety requirements.
Carriers may not charge for packaging
wheelchair batteries.
Carriers may require passengers with
electric wheelchairs to check in one hour before flight time.
If a passenger checks in less than one
hour before flight time, the carrier shall make a reasonable effort to
carry his or her wheelchair unless this would delay the flight.
Carriers must allow passengers to
provide written instructions concerning the disassembly and assembly of
their wheelchairs.
Carriers may not require a passenger
with a disability to sign a waiver of liability for damage or loss of
wheelchairs or other assistive devices. The carrier may make note of any
pre-existing defect to the device.
On domestic trips, carriers' maximum
liability for loss, damage or delay in returning assistive devices is
twice the liability limit established for passengers' luggage under DOT
regulations. As of the publication of this booklet, the current limit
for liability on assistive devices is $2,500 per passenger (i.e., two
times the $1,250 limit for luggage). (As with other passenger baggage,
this limit can usually be increased by purchasing Excess Valuation
coverage from the airline.) The passenger should also check his or her
homeowners or renters insurance to determine whether it provides
additional coverage.
This expanded liability does not extend
to international trips, where the Warsaw Convention applies. For most
international trips (including the domestic portions of an international
trip) the current liability is approximately $9.07 per pound for checked
baggage and $400 per passenger for unchecked baggage.
Boarding and Deplaning
Properly trained service personnel who
are knowledgeable on how to assist individuals with a disability in
boarding and exiting must be available if needed. Equipment used for
assisting passengers must be kept in good working condition.
Boarding and exiting most medium and
large-size jet aircraft is almost always by way of level boarding ramps
or mobile lounges, which must be accessible. If ramps or mobile lounges
are not used, a lifting device (other than a device used for freight)
must be provided to assist persons with limited mobility safely on and
off the aircraft.
For certain small aircraft, however, at
present there are few suitable devices to assist persons with limited
mobility in boarding and exiting. Lifting devices for smaller aircraft
are now under development and will be put into place as soon as they
become available.
Carriers do not have to hand-carry
passengers on and off aircraft with fewer than 30 seats, if this is the
only means of getting the person on and off the aircraft. Carrier
employees may do so on a strictly voluntary basis.
In order to provide some personal
assistance and extra time, the air carrier may offer a passenger with a
disability, or any passenger that may be in need of assistance, the
opportunity to pre-board the aircraft. The passenger has the option to
accept or decline the offer.
On connecting flights, the delivering
carrier is responsible for providing assistance to the individual with a
disability in reaching his or her connecting flight.
Carriers cannot leave a passenger
unattended for more than 30 minutes in a ground wheelchair, boarding
chair, or other device in which the passenger is not independently
mobile.
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On The Plane
Aircraft Accessibility
PRIOR TO THE ENACTMENT OF THE AIR
Carrier Access Act of 1986, accessibility requirements for aircraft were
very limited. The rules implementing that law require that new aircraft
delivered after April 1992 have the following accessibility features:
- For aircraft with 30 or more
passenger seats:
- -- At least one half of the
armrests on aisle seats shall be movable to facilitate
transferring passengers from on-board wheelchairs to the aisle
seat;
-- Carriers shall establish
procedures to ensure that individuals with disabilities can
readily obtain seating in rows with movable aisle armrests;
-- An aisle seat is not
required to have a movable armrest if not feasible or if a
person with a disability would be precluded from sitting there
by FAA safety rules (e.g., an exit row).
- For aircraft with 100 or more seats:
- -- Priority space in the cabin
shall be provided for stowage of at least one passenger's
folding wheelchair. (This rule also applies to aircraft of
smaller size, if there is a closet large enough to accommodate a
folding wheelchair.)
- For aircraft with more than one
aisle:
- -- At least one accessible
lavatory (with door locks, call buttons, grab bars, and lever
faucets) shall be available which will have sufficient room to
allow a passenger using an on-board wheelchair to enter,
maneuver, and use the facilities with the same degree of privacy
as other passengers.
- Aircraft with more than 60 seats
must have an operable on-board wheelchair if
-
- There is an accessible lavatory,
or
- A passenger provides advance
notice that he or she can use an inaccessible lavatory but needs
an on-board chair to reach it, even if the aircraft predated the
rule and has not been refurbished (see below).
An aircraft delivered before April 1992
does not have to be made accessible until its interior is refurbished.
At that time the relevant accessibility features shall be added.
Airplanes in the commercial fleet have
their seats replaced under different schedules depending on the carrier.
At the time when all seats are being replaced on an aircraft with 30 or
more passenger seats, half of the aisle seats must be equipped with
movable aisle armrests. This shall be done on smaller aircraft to the
extent it is not inconsistent with structural, weight, balance,
operational or interior configuration limitations.
Similarly, all aircraft undergoing
replacement of cabin interior elements or lavatories must meet the
accessibility requirements for the affected features, including cabin
storage space for a folding wheelchair, and an on-board wheelchair if
there is an accessible lavatory (unless prohibited by structural,
weight, balance, or configuration limitations).
Seat Assignments
An individual with a disability cannot
be required to sit in a particular seat or be excluded from any seat,
except as provided by FAA safety rules, such as the FAA Exit Row Seating
rule. For safety reasons, that rule limits seating in exit rows to those
persons with the most potential to be able to operate the emergency exit
and help in an aircraft evacuation. The carrier cannot deny transport,
but may deny specific seats to travelers who are less than age 15 or
lack the capacity to act without an adult, or who lack sufficient
mobility, strength, dexterity, vision, hearing, speech, reading or
comprehension abilities to perform emergency evacuation functions. The
carrier may also deny specific seats to persons with a condition or
responsibilities, such as caring for small children, that might prevent
the person from performing emergency evacuation functions, or cause harm
to themselves in doing so.
A traveler with a disability may also
be denied certain seats if:
- The passenger's involuntary behavior
is such that it could compromise safety of the flight and the safety
problem can be mitigated to an acceptable degree by assigning the
passenger a specific seat rather than refusing service;
- The seat desired cannot accommodate
guide dogs or service animals.
In each instance, carriers are
obligated to offer alternative seat locations.
Service Animals
Carriers must permit dog guides or
other service animals with appropriate identification to accompany an
individual with a disability on a flight. Identification may include
cards or other documentation, presence of a harness or markings on a
harness, tags, or the credible verbal assurance of the passenger using
the animal.
If carriers provide special information
to passengers concerning the transportation of animals outside the
continental United States, they must provide such information to all
passengers with animals on such flights, not simply to passengers with
disabilities who are traveling with service animals.
Carriers must permit a service animal
to accompany a traveler with a disability to any seat in which the
person sits, unless the animal obstructs an aisle or other area that
must remain clear in order to facilitate an emergency evacuation, in
which case the passenger will be assigned another seat.
In-Cabin Service
Air carrier personnel shall assist a
passenger with a disability to:
- Move to and from seats as a part of
the boarding and exiting process;
- Open packages and identify food
(assistance with actual eating is not required);
- Use an on-board wheelchair when
available to enable the passenger to move to and from the lavatory;
- Move to and from the lavatory, in
the case of a semi-ambulatory person (as long as this does not
require lifting or carrying by the airline employee);
- Load and retrieve carry-on items,
including mobility aids and other assistive devices stowed on board
the aircraft.
Carrier personnel are not required to
provide assistance inside the lavatory or at the passenger's seat with
elimination functions. The carrier personnel are also not required to
perform medical services for an individual with a disability.
Charges for Accommodations
Prohibited
Carriers cannot impose charges for
providing facilities, equipment, or services to an individual with a
disability that are required by DOT's Air Carrier Access regulations.
They may charge for optional services, however, such as oxygen and
accommodation of stretchers.
Personnel Training
Carriers must provide training on
passengers with disabilities for all personnel who deal with the
traveling public. This training shall be appropriate to the duties of
each employee and will be designed to help the employee understand the
special needs of these travelers, and how they can be accommodated
quickly, safely, and with dignity. The training must familiarize
employees with:
- The Department of Transportation's
rules on the provision of air service to an individual with a
disability;
- The carrier's procedures for
providing transportation to persons with disabilities, including the
proper and safe operation of any equipment used to accommodate such
persons;
- How to respond appropriately to
persons with different disabilities, including persons with
mobility, sensory, mental, and emotional disabilities.
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EACH CARRIER MUST HAVE AT LEAST one
Complaints Resolution Official (CRO) available at each airport during
times of scheduled carrier operations. The CRO can be made available by
telephone.
Any passenger having a complaint of
alleged violations of the Air Carrier Access rules is entitled to
communicate with a CRO, who has authority to resolve complaints on
behalf of the carrier.
If a CRO receives a complaint before
the action of carrier personnel has resulted in violation of the Air
Carrier Access rules, the CRO must take or direct other carrier
personnel to take action to ensure compliance with the rule. The CRO,
however, does not have authority to countermand a safety-based decision
made by the pilot-in-command of an aircraft.
If the CRO agrees with the passenger
that a violation of the rule occurred, he must provide the passenger a
written statement summarizing the facts and what steps if any, the
carrier proposes to take in response to the violation.
If the CRO determines that no violation
has occurred, he must provide the passenger a written statement
summarizing the facts and reasons for the decision or conclusion.
The written statement must inform the
interested party of his or her right to pursue DOT enforcement action if
the passenger is still not satisfied with the response. If possible, the
written statement by the CRO must be given to the passenger at the
airport; otherwise, it shall be sent to the passenger within 10 days of
the incident.
Carriers shall establish a procedure
for resolving written complaints alleging violations of any Air Carrier
Access rule provision. If a passenger chooses to file a written
complaint, the complaint should note whether the passenger contacted the
CRO at the time of the alleged violation, including the CRO's name and
the date of contact, if available. It should include any written
response received from the CRO. A carrier shall not be required to
respond to a complaint postmarked more than 45 days after the date of an
alleged violation.
A carrier must respond to a written
complaint within 30 days after receiving it. The response must state the
airline's position on the alleged violation, and may also state whether
and why no violation occurred, or what the airline plans to do about the
problem. The carrier must also inform the passenger of his or her right
to pursue DOT enforcement action.
Any person believing that a carrier has
violated any provision of the rule may report the incident to the
following office:
Department of Transportation
Aviation Consumer Protection
Division, C-75
400 Seventh Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590
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In Conclusion
Our work is not yet done. At the time
of publication of this booklet, there remained a number of accessibility
issues unresolved. These include:
- Accessible terminal transportation
systems;
- Boarding chair standards;
- Accessible lavatories on narrow body
aircraft;
- Open captioning for in-flight movies
and videos;
- TT service on aircraft.
There are many others.
The Department of Transportation, along
with groups representing people with disabilities and the air carrier
industry, is dedicated to eliminating these barriers with all possible
speed.
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