The updated regulations are scheduled to take effect starting next month.
New rules: how will airlines improve travel for passengers with disabilities?
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The new rules will go into effect between January 16th, 2025 and June 17th, 2026, depending on the specific requirement. The DOT estimates that at least one wheelchair or scooter is damaged, delayed, or lost for every 100 domestic flights.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated:
"Every passenger deserves safe, dignified travel when they fly, and we've taken unprecedented actions to hold airlines accountable when they don't provide fair treatment to passengers with 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."
Under the new rules, airlines must provide "safe" and "dignified" assistance to travelers with disabilities "that doesn't put them at heightened risk of bodily injury" and "in a manner that respects a passenger's independence, autonomy, and privacy." Airlines must also provide annual training, including hands-on training, to employees who assist passengers with mobility disabilities or handle their wheelchairs or scooters.
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Airlines must return any checked wheelchairs or other assistive devices in the same condition they were received. If not, the DOT will assume the airline mishandled the passenger's wheelchair or other assistive device, violating the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). Airlines will also have to notify passengers before they deplane when their wheelchairs or scooters have been unloaded.
If a wheelchair or scooter is delayed, airlines must transport it to the passenger's final destination within 24 hours for domestic or short international flights and within 30 hours for long international flights lasting more than 12 hours. The DOT has also set rules for reimbursements and alternative accommodations.
Looking ahead, the DOT will require airlines to improve their standards for on-board wheelchairs. The rule will require all on-board wheelchairs for use on planes with more than 60 seats to meet the new standards by October 2nd, 2031.
Some airlines, like United, have made improvements to their travel protocols for passengers with disabilities, such as launching a new search feature to ensure wheelchair users will be accommodated.
The DOT has been working hard to enhance the travel experience for passengers with disabilities. This effort includes clarifying airline refund policies, creating a guide to family seating, and publishing the first-ever bill of rights for airline passengers with disabilities.
In a recent interview, the head of the DOT, Secretary Buttigieg, expressed pride in the progress made during his tenure, stating that he's "leaving America's transportation systems better than we found them."
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