by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 12:35 PM ET, Mon December 16, 2024
The United States Department of Transportation under Secretary Pete Buttigieg issued new protections for travelers with disabilities with a new rule expanding rights for disabled travelers and a guide for airlines and airport workers to ensure safe, dignified travel for those with disabilities.
The new rule, which is part of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and goes into effect on January 16, 2025, sets new standards for assistance, requires hands-on training for airline employees and contractors and sets rules for how an airline is to act when a wheelchair is delayed or damaged during transport to protect the passenger.
With approximately 5.5 million Americans using a wheelchair, the new rule is seen as a big win for the disabled community.
“Every passenger deserves safe, dignified travel when they fly—and we’ve taken unprecedented actions to hold airlines accountable when they do not provide fair treatment to passengers with disabilities,” said Secretary Buttigieg. “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.”
The rule requires airlines to provide “safe and dignified assistance” to disabled travelers, with strict definitions on what that looks like. This includes a new requirement for annual training for airline employees and contractors who help travelers with disabilities and handle mobility aids. Competency tests and certifications are now required. Airlines and contractors will have until June 17, 2026 to train these employees.
The new law also requires “prompt enplaning, deplaning, and connecting assistance from airlines.” This includes placing the passenger’s wheelchair close to the door of the aircraft, if requested.
Airlines are also now required to return all checked wheelchairs and mobility aids to passengers “in the condition in which they are received,” adding that if this is not the case, then under the ACAA, the airline is under a violation of law and is required to address it. Airlines are now required to notify a passenger about this mishandling.
Travelers have a right to contact a Complaint Resolution Official about a potential mishandling, and this is now a required pre-departure rule that airlines must tell passengers when they check their wheelchairs or mobility aids. After a mishandling, they can file a claim with the airline, receive a loaner wheelchair from the airline, choose a preferred vendor for device repairs or replacement and contact the Complaint Resolution Official. Repairs will be paid for by the airline.
Airlines are now also required to promptly return a delayed wheelchair or scooter to a person’s home or hotel within 24 hours of arrival for domestic and short-haul international flights, or within 30 hours of arrival for long international flights. Airlines are required to pay for accessible ground transport for those with delayed mobility devices.
During the Biden Administration, the Transportation Department under Secretary Buttigieg has made great strides in protecting travelers with disabilities, creating the first-ever Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights, fining American Airlines a historic $50 million for mishandling of travelers with disabilities and their mobility aids and, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Airport Terminals Program, funding over 150 new projects to make airports more accessible across the nation.
It also created the first plans for aircraft allowing travelers in wheelchairs to remain in their chairs for the duration of their flight and set a new rule for all new aircraft to offer bathrooms with enough space for a disabled traveler and an assistant.
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