Last December, as President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg left office, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) published a newly updated regulation implementing the Air Carrier Access Act, (ACA) which was passed in 1986.
Two months later, Delta, American, United, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines, encouraged by newly inaugurated President Donald Trump’s attack on over-regulation by government, sued USDOT to invalidate the regulation.
All wheelchair-using airline passengers have struggled with airplane access issues for decades. Inaccessible lavatories, humiliating and dangerous boarding practices, untrained escort and gate personnel to assist with boarding and disembarking, failure to arrange boarding chairs and assistance despite advance reservations, lack of enforcement by USDOT of nondiscrimination regulations, and damage to wheelchairs inconveniencing and immobilizing travelers, as well as denying liability for the damage are just some of the thousands of Air Carrier Access Act complaints received by USDOT every year. In fact, Secretary Buttigieg’s USDOT imposed a $20 million dollar fine on American Airlines for ACA violations. No Secretary had ever imposed an ACA fine this big and it highlighted the need for better regulation and enforcement.
In response to years of disability advocacy and recognizing that airlines have not voluntarily done much to provide access, USDOT developed a new regulation which would have definitely improved air travel for people with disabilities.
Key Provisions Suspended
This probably won’t come as a shock but Trump Administration Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has suspended indefinitely the enforcement of key provisions of the regulation. He issued a Notice of Enforcement Discretion, essentially saying that the agency will not enforce the provisions the airlines are suing about. USDOT, meanwhile, is reviewing the rule. Rule changes will take over a year to happen but they may not since the airlines are happy with the nonenforcement.
Secretary Duffy, the father of a child with a disability, announced in September that he will pause enforcement of four provisions of the regulation:
- The presumption that airlines are liable when a passenger’s wheelchair is not returned in the same condition as when it was checked with baggage.
- Annual training and refresher training for personnel and contractors who interact with passengers with disabilities and/or handle their mobility equipment.
- The requirement that airlines notify wheelchair and scooter users before they travel of their rights to file claims if they are discriminated against or their equipment is damaged.
- The reimbursement of the difference between the fare on a cheaper flight that couldn’t accommodate a wheelchair or scooter in baggage and a more expensive flight on
which it fits.
Waiting Decades For Accessibility
Wheelchair and scooter users have waited decades for the airlines to behave and be treated like any other carrier.
Buses, trains, and even taxis are accessible, yet airplanes have been allowed to remain inaccessible—still unable to safely transport passengers who use wheelchairs, posing risks to both travelers and airline staff.
The airlines have been bailed out of financial troubles by US taxpayers repeatedly. In both 2008 in response to economic downturns, and in 2020 in response to COVID shutdowns, government provided air carriers billions in relief. If airline bailouts were conditioned on airplane access there would be no need for a new nondiscrimination regulation as airlines would have found it to be in their interest to safely and graciously accommodate all passengers, not just those who can walk.
Opinions expressed are solely those of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Able News at The Viscardi Center and/or The Viscardi Center.