Summary
- Airlines would must adhere to recent rules for protected and dignified wheelchair assistance, ensuring proper training and accountability.
- Proposed penalties for mishandling wheelchairs include immediate notification, repair or substitute, and loaner options.
- Latest DOT rules aim to supply prompt, protected, and respectful assistance, requiring airlines to follow strict guidelines for reduced-mobility traveler dignity.
Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation of the USA, has announced the newly proposed rule from the Department of Transportation (DOT) concerning passengers who travel with wheelchairs to fly safely and with dignity.
Rigorous standards
The DOT stated that the proposed rule would be sure that airlines adhere to rigorous standards to accommodate passengers with disabilities in order that they might travel safely and with dignity. The brand new rules would set recent standards for prompt, protected, and dignified assistance and an expanded training program for airline employees and contractors who assist passengers with disabilities, including handling their wheelchairs.
Photo: Andrey_Popov | Shutterstock
In accordance with the DOT, the brand new rule would also make it easier for the agency to carry airlines accountable after they damage or delay returning wheelchairs, robotically marking it as a violation of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) when a wheelchair is mishandled.
In accordance with Buttigieg, tens of millions of Americans with disabilities are forced to decide on other transportation options because airlines have constantly did not properly assist them, also highlighting poor government regulation of the precise area.
![A render of the PriestmanGoode Hero Wheelchair seat concept.](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/pg_air4all_hero_wheelchair-_3_2.jpg)
Increasing Accessibility: How Airline Seating May Improve to Higher Accommodate Wheelchair Users
How the industry is adapting to make flying higher for everybody.
Mishandling penalties
The DOT clarified that the changes to the ACAA would define ‘mishandled’ when a wheelchair, or every other mobility device, was lost, delayed, damaged, or stolen. Airlines can be required to notify the affected passenger immediately, informing them of their rights to file a claim about their mobility device. Moreover, carriers would have to supply a loaner wheelchair, select a preferred vendor for device repairs or replacements, and have a Complaints Resolution Officer (CRO) available.
Photo: Frankfurt Airport.
In accordance with the DOT, airlines could only repair or provide a substitute that’s equivalent or of greater function and safety inside an inexpensive timeframe and pay the prices. Alternatively, the passenger arranges the repair or substitute, and the at-fault carrier covers the expenses. Similar rules are proposed regarding loaner mobility devices, with the airlines having to seek the advice of with the affected passenger to make sure it meets their needs.
![American Airlines in the sky](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/123119_planes-063-1.jpg)
Mishandled Wheelchairs: American Airlines Goes Viral For The Incorrect Reasons
A recent video shows a wheelchair rolling out onto the tarmac, speaking conversations about how airlines treat mobility devices.
Proper and prompt assistance
The DOT has also proposed that airline employees and contractors who handle passengers with mobility difficulties have annual training, including hands-on experience, to equip them higher to fulfill the traveler’s needs.
Following multiple reports from disability rights advocates, the DOT said that airlines incessantly provide unsafe and undignified assistance, which leads to physical injuries and emotional distress. Because of this, the Department would require carriers to supply protected and dignified assistance, which incorporates the requirement to move a passenger’s delayed mobility device inside 24 hours of the traveler’s arrival time.
The brand new rules require airlines to supply prompt assistance during multiple flying stages, including enplaning, deplaning, or moving through the airport terminal. Defining prompt assistance, the DOT detailed that it means personnel and boarding wheelchairs can be found to deplane when the last passenger not needing assistance leaves the aircraft and that the person’s wheelchair can be as near the aircraft’s door as possible.
![American Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner N809AA passenger plane landing at London Heathrow Airport](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/american-airlines-boeing-787-8-dreamliner-n809aa-passenger-plane-landing-at-london-heathrow-airport-soos-joszef.jpg)
US DOT To Investigate American Airlines Wheelchair Incident
Wheelchair users have been raising their concerns that their equipment is usually mishandled and broken while traveling.
For the reason that rule was published as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the DOT invited stakeholders to comment and supply feedback on two issues. Firstly, the Department has sought feedback on size standards for bogs on widebody aircraft and, secondly, on reimbursement of airfare difference when a passenger traveling with a mobility device needed to book one other flight as their wheelchair didn’t fit within the aircraft.
![Air Canada Airbus A321 Montreal.](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/a321-montreal-1.jpg)
Air Canada Leaves Nation’s Chief Accessibility Officer’s Wheelchair Behind On Flight From Toronto
Stephanie Cadieux flew from Montreal to Vancouver but her wheelchair didn’t.