DOT issues new protections for commercial airline passengers with disabilities  

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued new protections for commercial airline passengers with disabilities. 

The new final rule, which was announced by US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on December 16, 2024, requires airlines to “meet more rigorous standards” for accommodating passengers with disabilities, especially for those who use wheelchairs. 

“We’ve taken unprecedented actions to hold airlines accountable when they do not provide fair treatment to passengers with disabilities,” said Buttigieg. “With the new protections we’re announcing, we’re establishing a new standard for air travel – with clear and thorough guidelines for airlines to ensure that passengers using wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.”  

The rule requires that airlines provide “safe and dignified” assistance to disabled passengers. The DOT defines “safe” to mean “assistance provided to individuals with disabilities that does not put them at heightened risk of bodily injury”, while the rule defines “dignified” to mean helping in a way that “respects a passenger’s independence, autonomy, and privacy”.  

The rule also requires annual training for airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with mobility disabilities or handle passengers’ wheelchairs or scooters. All airline employees and contractors who provide physical assistance to persons with mobility disabilities or handle the transport of wheelchairs or scooters must receive training by June 17, 2026.   

Additionally, the rule requires airline staff to deliver “prompt” assistance to passengers during boarding, deplaning, and making flight connections. This includes helping them around the airport terminal. Airline staff will also be required to ensure a passenger’s personal wheelchair is available “as close as possible to the door of the aircraft to the maximum extent possible, if requested”. 

The DOT added that airlines must return all checked wheelchairs and other assistive devices to passengers “in the condition in which they are received”. Additionally, the rule requires airlines to reimburse passengers for the costs of any transportation to or from the airport if the passenger’s wheelchair or scooter is delayed by the airline.   

According to the DOT, the rule requests airlines to deliver a delayed wheelchair or scooter to the passenger’s destination within 24 hours for domestic flights and within 30 hours for long international flights. 

Lastly, the new rule requires airlines to offer to disembark passengers and rebook them on the next available flight of the same carrier or a partner carrier at no additional cost when passengers’ wheelchairs or scooters are not loaded on their scheduled flights. 

The new rule will come into effect from January 16, 2025.The post DOT issues new protections for commercial airline passengers with disabilities   appeared first on AeroTime.

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