On 2 October 1986, then-US President Ronald Reagan signed the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) into law, prohibiting airlines from discriminating against passengers with disabilities on flights to, from or within the United States. And in 1990, the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued regulations to enforce the ACAA.
Despite this landmark legislation, and subsequent amendments, disabled passengers who use wheelchairs and other assistive devices have for decades continued to face barriers due in part to a lack of precise language in the ACAA around how wheelchairs and their users should be treated. And today, there is no shortage of horror stories about wheelchairs being destroyed in aircraft cargo holds.
Now, as the United States prepares for a new Presidential Administration, current leaders have dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on essential new protections that will strengthen, clarify and codify interpretations within the ACAA, and — in the words of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) — “change” the ACAA when the final DOT rule goes into effect on 16 January 2025.
Whereas under ACAA airlines may not refuse transportation to people on the basis of disability and must accept wheelchairs for carriage if they fit in the cargo hold, the new final rule — titled “Ensuring Safe Accommodations for Air Travelers with Disabilities Using Wheelchairs” — goes further, stipulating that airlines must return all checked wheelchairs and other assistive devices to passengers in the condition in which they are received.
And, in the event a device is not returned to the passenger in the same condition “there is a rebuttable presumption that the airline mishandled the passenger’s wheelchair or other assistive device in violation” of the ACAA.
“Mishandled” is defined as meaning lost, delayed, damaged, or pilfered, according to the final rule, which also specifies what an airline must demonstrate to overcome the presumption of a violation.
Among its other notable provisions, the final rule requires prompt enplaning, deplaning, and connecting assistance from airlines to passengers with disabilities; requires airlines to provide information about the dimensions of cargo holds; and requires them to provide more flexibility for passengers to choose how to handle the repair of their wheelchair or scooter. It also requires annual hands-on training of airline employees and contractors who assist passengers with mobility disabilities.
“With the new protections we’re announcing today, 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,” declared Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement.
Indeed, in requiring airlines to provide “safe and dignified assistance to individuals with disabilities”, the DOT has gone so far as to define what “safe” and “dignified” actually mean. In the former instance, it means assistance provided to individuals with disabilities that does not put them at heightened risk of bodily injury and, in the latter, it means assistance provided in a manner that respects a passenger’s independence, autonomy, and privacy.
The final rule makes good on certain rulemaking provisions required by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, and addresses many concerns cited by the nearly 1,900 individuals who shared comments with the DOT during the rulemaking process, including by requiring airlines to provide prompt repair or replacement of damaged wheelchairs.
“This is not only a win for the disability community, especially our nation’s veterans with catastrophic injuries and diseases, like MS and ALS, but also a testament to the power of collective advocacy,” says Carl Blake, chief executive officer of PVA, which in 2022 played an instrumental role in getting the ball rolling at the DOT to initiate rulemaking — and whose members made their voices heard during the process.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), which also provided comment to the DOT, notes that the stipulation that wheelchair users can promptly deplane represents “sorely needed” reform, as “too often, wheelchair users are left waiting for assistance on the plane for 30 minutes or more.”
MDA’s executive vice president of public policy and advocacy, Paul Melmeyer, calls the new rule “a monumental step forward in ensuring that wheelchair users can travel with the safety and dignity they deserve”.
The rule goes into effect on 16 January 2025, four days before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President. Some individual requirements have varying implementation timelines through 17 June 2026. And it does not require airlines to allow wheelchair users to remain in their own chair in the cabin, though the FAA has vowed to define safety criteria for an onboard wheelchair tie-down next year, after which rulemaking activity might begin.
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Featured image credited to istock.com/AzmanJaka
