U.S. Department of
Transportation
Office of the Secretary
of Transportation
[Graphic Omitted]
New Horizons
for the
Air Traveler
with a
Disability
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Special Remarks
Introduction
PLANNING THE TRIP
The New Traveling Environment
Getting Advance Information About the Aircraft
When Advanced Notice Can Be Required
When Attendants Can Be Required
AT THE AIRPORT
Airport Accessibility
Moving Through the Airport
Passenger Information
Security Screening
Medical Certificates
Communicable Diseases
GETTING ON AND OFF THE PLANE
The Safety Briefing
Handling of Mobility Aids and Assistive Devices
Boarding and Deplaning
ON THE PLANE
Aircraft Accessibility
Personnel Training
Seat Assignments
Service Animals
In-Cabin Service
Charges for Accommodations Prohibited
COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES
IN CONCLUSION
SPECIAL REMARKS
It is a great honor and pleasure to release this booklet,
"New Horizons for the Air Traveler with a Disability." Its
intent is to inform individuals with disabilities who travel by
air about the latest steps taken to make their trip as efficient
and enjoyable as possible, and what to expect in the future. It
describes the latest changes made in response to the passage of
the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, and those changes that will
be forthcoming under the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990.
Progress is being made, but we are by no means finished.
Under the leadership of President Bush, and in cooperation with
the air travel industry and organizations representing
individuals with disabilities, we will continue working toward a
barrier free environment for all who desire to travel by air.
[Graphic Omitted]
Samuel K. Skinner
Secretary of Transportation
INTRODUCTION
Access to the nation's air travel system for persons with
disabilities has been an area of substantial dissatisfaction,
with both passengers and the airline industry recognizing the
need for major improvement. In 1986 Congress passed the Air
Carrier Access Act, requiring the Department of Transportation
(DOT) to develop new regulations which ensure that persons with
disabilities will be treated without discrimination in a way
consistent with the safe carriage of all passengers. These
regulations were published in March 1990.
The DOT regulations, referred to here as the Air Carrier
Access rules, represent a major stride forward in improving air
travel for persons with disabilities. The rules clearly explain
the responsibilities of the traveler, the carriers, the airport
operators, and the contractors, who collectively make up the
system which moves over one million passengers per day.
The new rules are designed to minimize the special problems
that travelers with disabilities face as they negotiate their
way through the nation's complex air travel system from origin
to destination. This minimization is achieved:
* By recognizing that the physical barriers encountered by
passengers with disabilities can be vastly reduced by
employing simple changes in layout and technology.
* By adopting the principle that many difficulties
confronting the passengers with hearing or vision
impairments will be relieved if they are provided access
to the same information as is available to all other
passengers.
* Through training of all air travel personnel who come in
day-to-day contact with persons with disabilities, to
understand their needs and how they can be accommodated
quickly, safely, and with dignity.
This guide is designed to offer travelers with disabilities
a brief but authoritative source of information about the new
Air Carrier Access rules: the accommodations, facilities, and
services that are now required to be available and accessible it
also describes features required by other regulations designed
to make air travel more accessible.
The guide is structured in much the same sequence as a
passenger would plan for a trip: the circumstances he or she
must consider prior to traveling, what will be encountered at
the airport, and what to expect in the transitions from airport
to airplane, on the plane, and then airplane to airport.
PLANNING THE TRIP
The New Traveling Environment
The new rules sweep aside many restrictions that formerly
discriminated against passengers with disabilities:
* A carrier may not refuse transportation to a passenger
solely on the basis of a disability.
* Air carriers may not limit the number of individuals with
disabilities on a particular flight.
* All trip information that is made available to other
passengers also must be made available to passengers with
disabilities.
* Carriers must provide passage to an individual with a
disability that may affect his or her appearance or
involuntary behavior, even if this disability may offend,
annoy, or be an inconvenience to crewmembers or other
passengers.
There are a few exceptions:
* The carrier may refuse transportation if the individual
with a disability would endanger the health or safety of
other passengers, or transporting the person would be a
violation of FAA safety rules.
* The carrier may refuse transportation if the plane has
fewer than 30 seats and there are no lifts, boarding chairs
or other devices available which can be adapted to the
limitations of such small planes, by which to place the
passenger on board. Carrier personnel are not required to
carry a mobility impaired person onto the aircraft by hand.
* There are special rules about persons with certain
disabilities or communicable diseases. These rules are
covered on pages 14 and 15 of this booklet.
* The carrier may refuse transportation if it is unable to
seat the passenger without violating the FAA Exit Row
Seating rules. See page 28.
There are new procedures for resolving disputes:
* All carriers are now required to have a Complaints
Resolution Official (CRO) closely available to resolve
disagreements which may arise between the carrier and
passengers with disabilities.
* Travelers who disagree with a carrier's actions toward them
can pursue the issue with the carrier's CRO on the spot.
* A carrier that refuses transportation to any person based
on a disability must provide a written statement to that
person within 10 calendar days, stating the basis for the
refusal. The statement must include, where applicable, the
basis for the carrier's opinion that transporting the
person could be harmful to the safety of the flight.
* If the passenger is still not satisfied, he or she may
pursue DOT enforcement action.
Getting Advance Information About the Aircraft
Travelers with disabilities must be provided information
upon request concerning facilities and services available to
them. When feasible this information will pertain to the
specific aircraft scheduled for a specific flight. Such
information should include:
* Any limitations which may be known to the carrier
concerning the ability of the aircraft to accommodate an
individual with a disability;
* The location of seats (if any) with movable aisle armrests
and any seats which the carrier does not make available to
an individual with a disability (e.g., exit rows);
* Any limitations on the availability of storage facilities
in the cabin or in the cargo bay for mobility aids or other
equipment commonly used by an individual with a disability;
* Whether the aircraft has an accessible lavatory.
Normally, advance information about the aircraft will be
requested by phone. Any carrier that provides telephone service
for the purpose of making reservations or offering general
information must provide comparable services for
hearing-impaired individuals, utilizing telecommunications
devices for the deaf (TDDs) or text telephones (TTs). The TTs
shall be available during the same hours that the general public
has access to regular phone service. The response time to answer
calls on the TT line shall also be equivalent to the response
time available to the general public. Charges for the call, if
any, shall be the same as charges made to the general public.
When Advance Notice Can Be Required
Carriers may require up to 48 hours advance notice and one
hour advance check-in from a person with a disability who wishes
to receive the following services:
* Transportation for an electric wheelchair on an aircraft
with fewer than 60 seats;
* Provision by the carrier of hazardous materials packaging
for the battery of a wheelchair or other assistive device;
* Accommodations for 10 or more passengers with disabilities
who travel as a group;
* Provision of an on-board wheelchair on an aircraft that
does not have an accessible lavatory (beginning no later
than April 5, 1992) for persons who can use an inaccessible
lavatory but need an on-board chair to do so.
Carriers are not required to provide the following services
or equipment, but should they choose to provide them, may
require 48 hours advance notice and a one hour advance check-in:
* Medical oxygen for use on board the aircraft;
* Carriage of an incubator;
* Hook-up for a respirator to the aircraft's electrical
supply;
* Accommodations for a passenger who must travel on a
stretcher.
Carriers may impose reasonable, nondiscriminatory charges
for these services. They must ensure the requested service is
provided if appropriate notice has been given and the service
requested is available on that particular flight. If a passenger
does not meet advance notice or check-in requirements, carriers
must make a reasonable effort to accommodate the requested
service, providing it does not delay the flight.
If a passenger with a disability provides the required
notice but is required to fly on another carrier (for example,
if the flight is cancelled), the original carrier must, to the
maximum extent feasible, provide assistance to the second
carrier in furnishing the accommodation requested by the
individual.
It must be recognized that even though the passenger has
requested information in advance on the accessible features of
the scheduled aircraft, carriers sometimes have to substitute a
different aircraft at the last minute for safety, mechanical or
other reasons. It also must be recognized that the substitute
aircraft may not be as fully accessible--a condition that may
prevail for a number of years. On-board wheelchairs must be
available on certain aircraft by 1992, but it will take a number
of years before movable aisle armrests are available on all
aircraft with over 30 seats. Similarly, while accessible
lavatories must be built into all new wide-body aircraft, they
will be put into existing aircraft only when such aircraft are
undergoing a major interior refurbishment.
When Attendants Can Be Required
Carriers may require the following individuals to be
accompanied by an attendant:
* A person traveling on a stretcher or in an incubator (for
flights where such service is offered);
* A person who, because of a mental disability, is unable to
comprehend or respond appropriately to safety instructions
from carrier personnel;
* A person with a mobility impairment so severe that the
individual is unable to assist in his or her own evacuation
from the aircraft;
* A person who has both severe hearing and severe vision
impairments which prevent him or her from receiving and
acting on necessary instructions from carrier personnel
when evacuating the aircraft during an emergency.
The applicability of one of these criteria may be cause for
disagreement between the carrier and the passenger. In such
cases, a carrier can require the passenger to travel with an
attendant, contrary to the passenger's assurances that he or she
can travel alone. In such a case, the carrier cannot charge for
the transportation of the attendant. The carrier may designate,
however, an individual of its own choosing to be the attendant.
The carrier can choose an attendant in a number of ways.
The carrier could designate an off duty employee who happened to
be traveling on the same flight to act as the attendant. The
carrier or the passenger with a disability could seek a
volunteer from among other passengers on the flight to act as
the attendant. The carrier could provide a free ticket to an
attendant of the passenger's choice for that flight segment.
The attendant so chosen would not be required to provide
personal service to the passenger with a disability other than
to provide assistance in the event of an emergency evacuation.
This is in contrast to the case of the passenger that usually
travels accompanied by a personal attendant, who would provide
the passenger whatever service he or she requests.
In such cases, if there is not a seat available on the
flight for an attendant, and as a result a person with a
disability holding a confirmed reservation is denied travel on
the flight, the passenger with a disability is eligible for
denied boarding compensation.
For purposes of determining whether a seat is available for
an attendant, the attendant shall be deemed to have checked in
at the same time as the person with the disability.
AT THE AIRPORT
Airport Accessibility
Until recently, only those airport facilities designed,
constructed, or renovated by or for a recipient of federal funds
had to comply with federal accessibility standards. Even on
federally-assisted airports, however, not all facilities and
activities were required to be accessible. Examples are
privately-owned ground transportation and concessions selling
goods or service to the public. *1 As a result of the Air Carrier
Access rules, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(ADA), and implementing regulations, these privately-owned
activities also must be made accessible.
*1 The accessibility features for over 500 airports are covered
in a publication of the Airports Association Council
International entitled A Guide to the Accessibility of
Terminals, Access Travel. Airports, and may be obtained by
writing the Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, CO 81009.
In general airports under construction or being refurbished
must comply with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) and
other regulations governing accessibility in accordance with a
timetable established in the ADA. Thus, while there are still
many changes to be made, the accessibility of most airports is
improving. With few exceptions, these services should be
available in all carrier terminals within the next few years:
* Accessible parking near the terminal;
* Signs indicating accessible parking and the easiest access
from those spaces to the terminal;
* Accessible medical aid facilities and travelers aid
stations;
* Accessible restrooms,
* Accessible drinking fountains;
* Accessible ticketing systems at primary fare collection
areas;
* Amplified telephones and text telephones (TTs) for use by
persons with hearing and speech impairments--there must be
at least one TT in each terminal in a clearly marked
accessible location;
* Accessible baggage check-in and retrieval areas;
* Accessible jetways and mobile lounges;
* Level entry boarding ramps, lifts or other means of
assisting an individual with a disability on and off an
aircraft;
* Information systems using visual words, letters or symbols
with lighting and color coding and facilities providing
information orally;
* Directional signs indicating the location of specific
facilities and services.
Moving Through the Airport
To further enhance the ease of travel for an individual
with a disability, major airports will be required to make the
following services accessible under new rules being put into
effect in the next several years:
* Shuttle vehicles, owned or operated by airports,
transporting people between parking lots and terminal
buildings;
* People movers and moving walkways within and between
terminals and gates.
By March 1993, all carrier facilities must include one
accessible route from an airport entrance to ticket counters,
boarding locations and baggage handling areas. Terminals must be
designed so that the routes minimize any extra distance that
wheelchair users must travel compared to other passengers to
reach these facilities. Outbound and inbound baggage facilities
must provide efficient baggage handling for individuals with a
disability, and these facilities must be designed and operated
so as to be accessible.
There must be appropriate signs to indicate the location of
accessible services.
Carriers cannot restrict the movements of persons with
disabilities in terminals or require them to remain in a holding
area or other location while awaiting transportation and other
assistance.
Curbside baggage check-in (available only for domestic
flights) may also be helpful to passengers with a disability.
Passenger Information
Carriers must ensure that individuals with disabilities,
including those with vision and hearing impairments, have
timely access to the same information provided to other
passengers. Such information may include, but is not limited to:
* Ticketing details;
* Scheduled departure times and gates;
* Status of flight delays;
* Schedule changes;
* Flight check-in;
* Change of gate assignments;
* Checking and claiming of luggage.
This information must be made available upon request. An
exception to this requirement prevails in instances when such
information is to be supplied by a crew member, but providing it
would interfere with the crew member's immediate safety duties.
A copy of the Air Carrier Access Act rules must be made
available by carriers for inspection upon request at each
airport.
As previously noted, any carrier that provides telephone
service for the purpose of making reservations or offering
general in formation shall also provide TT service. This service
for people with speech and hearing impairments must be available
during the same hours that the general public has access to
regular phone service, with equivalent response times and
charges.
Security Screening
An individual with a disability must undergo the same
security screening as any member of the traveling public.
If an individual with a disability is able to pass through
the security system without activating it, the person shall not
be subject to special screening procedures. Security personnel
are free to examine an assistive device that they believe is
capable of concealing a weapon or other prohibited item. If an
individual with a disability is not able to pass through the
system without activating it, the person will be subject to
further screening in the same manner as any other passenger
activating the system.
Security screening personnel at some airports may employ a
handheld device that will allow them to complete the screening
without having to physically search the individual. If this
method is still unable to clear the individual and a physical
search becomes necessary, then at the passenger's request, the
search will be done in private.
If the passenger requests a private screening in a timely
manner, the carrier must provide it in time for the passenger to
board the aircraft. Such private screenings will not be
required, however, to a greater extent or for any different
reason than for other passengers, but may take more time.
Medical Certificates
A medical certificate is a written statement from the
passenger's physician saying that the passenger is capable of
completing the flight safely without requiring extraordinary
medical care. A disability is not sufficient grounds for a
carrier to request a medical certificate. Carriers shall not
require passengers to present a medical certificate unless
the person traveling:
* Is on a stretcher or in an incubator (where such service is
offered);
* Needs medical oxygen during flight (where such service is
offered);
* Has a medical condition which causes the carrier to have
reasonable doubt that the individual can complete the
flight safely, without requiring extraordinary medical
assistance during the flight;
* Has a communicable disease or infection that has been
determined by federal public health authorities to be
generally transmittable during flight.
If the medical certificate is necessitated by a
communicable disease (see next section), it must say that the
disease or infection will not be communicable to other persons
during the normal course of flight. The certificate shall state
any conditions or precautions that would have to be observed to
prevent transmission of the disease or infection to others.
Carriers cannot mandate separate treatment for an
individual with a disability except for reasons of safety or to
prevent the spread of a communicable disease or infection.
Communicable Diseases
As part of their responsibility to their passengers, air
carriers try to prevent the spread of infection or a
communicable disease on board an aircraft. If a person who seeks
passage has an infection or disease that would be transmittable
during the normal course of a flight, and that has been deemed
so by a federal public health authority knowledgeable about the
disease or infection, then the carrier providing transportation
may:
* Refuse to provide transportation to the person;
* Require the person to provide a medical certificate;
* Impose on the person a condition or requirement not imposed
on other passengers.
If the individual presents a medical certificate it must
state any conditions or precautions that would have to be
implemented to prevent the transmission of the disease during
the flight. In that case the carrier shall provide
transportation unless it is not feasible to act upon the
conditions set forth in the certificate to prevent transmission
of the disease.
GETTING ON AND OFF THE PLANE
The Safety Briefing
The safety briefing that carrier personnel provide is for
the passengers' own safety and is intended for that purpose
only. FAA regulations require that a safety briefing be given
to all passengers before takeoff.
Carrier personnel may offer an individual briefing to a
person whose disability precludes him or her from receiving the
information presented in the general briefing. The individual
briefing will be provided as inconspicuously and discreetly as
possible. Most carriers choose to offer this briefing before
other passengers board the flight if the passenger with a
disability chooses to pre-board the flight. A carrier can
present the special briefing at any time before takeoff that
does not interfere with other safety duties.
Carriers may not test the individual about the material
presented in the briefing, except to the same degree they test
all passengers in the general briefing. A carrier cannot take
any adverse action against the passenger on the basis that in
the carrier's opinion the passenger did not understand the
safety briefing.
Safety briefings presented to passengers on video screens
will have an open caption or an insert for a sign language
interpreter, unless this would interfere with the video or would
not be large enough to be seen. This requirement takes effect as
old videos are replaced in the normal course of business.
Handling of Mobility Aids and Assistive Devices
Assistive devices brought into the cabin by an individual
with a disability shall not count toward a limit on carry-on
items. To the extent consistent with various FAA safety
regulations, passengers may bring on board and use ventilators
and respirators, powered by non-spillable batteries.
Persons using canes and other assistive devices may stow
these items on board the aircraft in close proximity to them,
consistent with safety regulations. Carriers shall permit
passengers to stow wheelchairs or component parts of a mobility
device under seats, or in overhead compartments.
One folding wheelchair can be stowed in a cabin closet, or
other approved priority storage area, if the aircraft has such
areas and storage can be accomplished in accordance with FAA
safety regulations. If the passenger pre-boards, stowage of the
wheelchair takes priority over the carry-on items brought on by
other passengers enplaning at the same airport, but not over
items from previous stops.
Wheelchairs and other assistive devices must be given
priority over cargo and baggage when stowed in the cargo
compartment, and must be among the first items unloaded.
Mobility aids shall be returned to the owner as close as
possible to the door of the aircraft (consistent with DOT
hazardous materials regulations) or at the baggage claim area
in accordance with whatever request was made by the passenger
before boarding.
If the priority storage accorded to mobility aids prevents
another passenger's baggage from being carried, the carrier
shall make its best efforts to ensure the other baggage arrives
within four hours.
Due to the limited size of storage space available on
certain aircraft, some assistive devices will have to be
disassembled in order to be transported (e.g., electric
wheelchairs, other devices too large to fit in the cabin or in
the cargo hold in one piece). When assistive devices are
disassembled, carriers are obligated to return them to
passengers in the condition received by the carrier.
Carriers must transport battery-powered wheelchairs, except
where cargo compartment size or aircraft airworthiness
considerations do not permit doing so.
* Electric wheelchairs must be treated in accordance with
both DOT regulations for handling hazardous materials, and
DOT Air Carrier Access regulations, which differentiate
between spillable and non-spillable batteries.
-- Spillable Batteries--If the chair is powered by a
spillable battery, the regulations stipulate that the
battery must be removed unless the wheelchair can be
loaded, stored, secured, and unloaded always in an
upright position. When it is possible to load, store,
secure, and unload with the wheelchair always in an
upright position and the battery is securely attached to
the wheelchair, the carrier may not remove the battery
from the chair.
-- Nonspillable batteries--It is never necessary under the
DOT hazardous materials regulations to remove a
non-spillable battery from a wheelchair before stowing
it. There may be individual cases, however, in which a
carrier is unable to determine whether a battery is
spillable or nonspillable. DOT is issuing new rules
covering the marking of such batteries.
The carrier may remove a particular unmarked battery
from the mobility aid if there is reasonable doubt that
it is nonspillable, and the conditions cited above for
spillable batteries cannot be met. An across-the-board
assumption that all batteries are spillable is not
consistent with the Air Carrier Access rules.
In addition, a nonspillable battery may be removed where
it appears to be damaged and leakage of battery fluid is
possible.
-- Establishing the Battery Type--Compliance with DOT rules
covering the marking of nonspillable batteries is
sufficient to identify a battery as nonspillable for
this purpose. In the absence of such markings, carrier
personnel are responsible for determining, on a
case-by-case basis, whether a battery is nonspillable,
taking into account information provided by the user of
the wheelchair.
* The battery of a wheelchair may not be drained.
* When DOT hazardous materials regulations require detaching
the battery from the wheelchair, the carrier shall upon
request provide packaging for the battery that will meet
safety requirements.
* Carriers may not charge for packaging wheelchair batteries.
* Carriers may require passengers with electric wheelchairs
to check-in one hour before flight time.
* If a passenger checks-in later than one hour before flight
time, the carrier shall make a reasonable effort to carry
his or her wheelchair unless it would delay the flight.
* Passengers may provide written instructions concerning the
disassembly and assembly of their wheelchairs.
Carriers may not require a passenger with a disability to
sign a waiver of liability for damage or loss of wheelchairs or
other assistive devices. The carrier may make note of any
pre-existing defect to the device.
On domestic trips, carriers' liability for loss, damage or
delay in returning assistive devices cannot be greater than
twice the liability limits established for passengers' luggage
under DOT regulations. As of the publication of this booklet,
the current limit for liability on assistive devices is $2,500
per passenger (i.e., two times the $1,250 limit for luggage).*1
*1 As with any passenger baggage, this limit may be increased
through Excess Valuation Insurance purchased through the
individual airline. The passenger should also check his or her
homeowners or renters insurance to determine whether it provides
such coverage.
This expanded liability does not extend to international
trips, where the Warsaw Convention applies. For most
international trips (including the domestic portions of an
international trip) the current liability is approximately $9.07
per pound for checked baggage and $400 per passenger for
unchecked baggage.
Boarding and Deplaning
Properly trained service personnel who are knowledgeable on
how to assist individuals with a disability in boarding and
exiting must be available if needed. Equipment used for
assisting passengers must be kept in good working condition.
Boarding and exiting most medium and large-size jet
aircraft is almost always by way of level boarding ramps or
mobile lounges which must be accessible. If ramps or mobile
lounges are not used, a lifting device (other than a device used
for freight) must be provided to assist persons with limited
mobility safely on and off the aircraft. For large and medium
size airplanes, hand carriage is not an appropriate method for
enplaning or deplaning a passenger with a disability.
At present, however, there are few suitable devices to
assist persons with limited mobility in boarding and exiting
certain small aircraft. Lifting devices for smaller aircraft are
now under development and will be put into place as soon as
available.
Carriers do not have to hand-carry passengers on and off
aircraft with fewer than 30 seats, if this is the only means of
getting the person on and off the aircraft. Carrier employees
may do so on a strictly voluntary basis.
In order to provide some personal assistance and extra time
the air carrier may offer a passenger with a disability, or any
passenger that may be in need of assistance, the opportunity to
pre-board the aircraft. The passenger has the option to accept
or decline the offer.
On connecting flights, the delivering carrier is
responsible for providing assistance to the individual with a
disability to reach his or her connecting flight and
transportation between gates.
Carriers cannot leave a passenger unattended for more than
30 minutes in a ground wheelchair, boarding chair, or other
device in which the passenger is not independently mobile.
ON THE PLANE
Aircraft Accessibility
Prior to the enactment of the Air Carrier Access Act of
1986, requirements that an aircraft be accessible were very
limited. The new rules require that a new aircraft
delivered after April 1992 have the following accessibility
features:
* For aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats:
-- At least one half of the armrests on aisle seats shall
be movable to facilitate transferring passengers from
on-board wheelchairs to the aisle seat;
-- Carriers shall establish procedures to ensure that
individuals with disabilities can readily obtain seating
in rows with movable aisle armrests;
-- An aisle seat is not required to have a movable armrest
if not feasible or if a person with a disability would
be precluded from sitting there by FAA safety rules
(e.g., an exit row).
* For aircraft with 100 or more seats:
-- Priority space in the cabin shall be provided for
stowage of at least one folding wheelchair. (This
rule also applies to aircraft of smaller size, if
there is a closet large enough to accommodate a
folding wheelchair.)
* For aircraft with more than one aisle:
-- At least one accessible lavatory (with door locks, call
buttons, grab bars, and lever faucets) shall be
available which will have sufficient room to allow a
passenger using an on-board wheelchair to enter,
maneuver, and use the facilities with the same degree of
privacy as other passengers.
Also, after April 1992, aircraft with more than 60 seats
must have an operable on-board wheelchair if:
* There is an accessible lavatory, or
* A passenger provides advance notice that he or she can use
an inaccessible lavatory but needs an on-board chair to
reach it, even if the aircraft predated the rule and has
not been refurbished (see below).
An existing aircraft does not have to be made accessible
until its interior is refurbished. At that time the relevant
accessibility features shall be added.
Airplanes in the commercial fleet have their seats replaced
under different schedules depending on the carrier. At the time
when all seats are being replaced on an aircraft, half of the
aisle seats must be equipped with movable aisle armrests.
Aircraft with fewer than 30 seats, in which seats are
replaced, shall include 50 percent movable aisle armrests to the
extent they are not inconsistent with structural weight,
balance, operational or interior configuration limitations.
Similarly, all aircraft undergoing replacement of cabin
interior elements or lavatories must meet the accessibility
requirements for the affected features, including cabin storage
space for a folding wheelchair, and an on-board wheelchair if
there is an accessible lavatory, (unless prohibited by
structural, weight, balance, or configuration limitations).
Personnel Training
Carriers must now provide training for all personnel who
deal with the traveling public. This training shall be
appropriate to the duties of each employee and will be designed
to help the employee understand the special needs of travelers
with disabilities, and how they can be accommodated quickly,
safely, and with dignity. The training must familiarize
employees with:
* The Department of Transportation's rules on the provision
of air service to an individual with a disability;
* The carrier's procedures for providing travel to persons
with disabilities including the proper and safe operation
of any equipment used to accommodate such persons;
* How to respond appropriately to persons with different
disabilities, including persons with mobility, sensory,
mental, and emotional disabilities.
Seat Assignments
An individual with a disability cannot be required to sit
in a particular seat, or be excluded from any seat except those
prohibited by FAA safety rules, such as the FAA Exit Row Seating
rule. For safety reasons, that rule limits seating in exit rows
to those persons with the most potential to be of help in an
orderly evacuation. The carrier cannot deny transport, but may
deny specific seats to travelers who are less than age 15 or
lack the capacity to act without an adult, or who lack
sufficient mobility, strength, dexterity, vision, hearing,
speech, reading or comprehension abilities to perform emergency
evacuation functions. The carrier may also deny specific seats
to persons with a condition or responsibilities, such as caring
for small children, that might prevent the person from
performing emergency evacuation functions, or cause harm to
themselves in doing so.
A traveler with a disability may also be denied certain
seats if:
* The passenger's involuntary behavior is such that it could
compromise safety of the flight and the safety problem can
be mitigated to an acceptable degree by assigning the
passenger a specific seat rather than refusing service;
* The seat desired cannot accommodate guide dogs or service
animals.
In each instance, carriers are obligated to offer
alternative seat locations.
Service Animals
Carriers must permit dog guides or other service animals
with appropriate identification to accompany an individual with
a disability on a flight. Identification may include cards or
other written documentation, presence of a harness or markings
on a harness, tags, or the credible verbal assurance of the
passenger using the animal.
If carriers provide special information to passengers
concerning the transportation of animals outside the continental
United States, they must provide such information to all
passengers with animals on such flights, not simply to
passengers with disabilities who are traveling with service
animals.
Carriers must permit a service animal to accompany a
disabled traveler with a disability to any seat in which the
person sits, unless the animal obstructs an aisle or other area
that must remain clear in order to facilitate an emergency
evacuation, in which case the passenger will be assigned another
seat.
In-Cabin Service
Air carrier personnel shall assist a passenger with a
disability to:
* Move to and from seats as a part of the boarding and
exiting process;
* Open packages and identify food (but not in actual eating),
* Use an on-board wheelchair when available to enable the
passenger to move to and from the lavatory;
* Move semi-ambulatory persons to and from the lavatory (as
long as this does not require lifting or carrying by the
airline employee);
* Load and retrieve carry-on items, including mobility aids
and other assistive devices stowed on board the aircraft.
Carrier personnel are not required to provide assistance
inside the lavatory or at the passenger's seat with elimination
functions. The carrier personnel are also not required to
perform medical services for an individual with a disability.
Charges for Accommodations Prohibited
Carriers cannot impose charges for providing facilities,
equipment, or services to an individual with a disability that
are required by DOT's Air Carrier Access regulations. They may
charge for optional services, however, such as oxygen and
accommodation of stretchers.
COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES
Each carrier must have at least one Complaints Resolution
Official (CRO) available at each airport during times of
scheduled carrier operations. The CRO can be made available by
telephone.
Any passenger having a complaint of alleged violations of
the Air Carrier Access rules is entitled to communicate with a
CRO, who has authority to resolve complaints on behalf of the
carrier.
If a CRO receives a complaint before the action of the
carrier personnel has resulted in violation of the Air Carrier
Access rules, the CRO must take or direct other carrier
personnel to take action to ensure compliance with the rule. The
CRO, however, does not have authority to countermand a safety
based decision made by the pilot in command of an aircraft.
If the CRO agrees with the passenger that a violation of
the rule occurred, he must provide the passenger a written
statement summarizing the facts and what steps if any, the
carrier proposes to take in response to the violation. If the
CRO determines that no violation has occurred, he or she must
provide the passenger a written statement summarizing the facts
and reasons for the decision or conclusion.
The written statement must inform the interested party of
his or her right to pursue DOT enforcement action if the
passenger is still not satisfied with the response. If possible,
the written statement by the CRO must be given to the passenger
at the airport; otherwise, it shall be sent to the passenger
within 10 days of the incident.
Carriers shall establish a procedure for resolving written
complaints alleging violations of any Air Carrier Access rule
provision. If a passenger chooses to file a written complaint,
the complaint must note whether the passenger contacted the CRO
at the time of the alleged violation, including the CRO's name
and the date of contact, if available. It should include any
written response received from the CRO. A carrier shall not be
required to respond to a complaint postmarked more than 45 days
after the date of an alleged violation
A carrier must respond to a written complaint within 30
days of its receipt. The response must state the airline's
position on the alleged violation, and may also state whether
and why no violation occurred, or what the airline plans to do
about the problem. The carrier must also reform the passenger of
his or her right to pursue DOT enforcement action. Any person
believing that a carrier has violated any provision of the rule
may contact the following office for assistance:
Department of Transportation
Office of Consumer Affairs
400 Seventh Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590
(202) 366-2220
TT (202) 755-7687
IN CONCLUSION
Our work is not yet done. At the time of publication of
this booklet, there remained a number of accessibility issues
unresolved. These include:
* Accessible terminal transportation systems;
* Boarding chair standards;
* Lifts for persons unable to board small aircraft;
* Accessible lavatories on narrow body aircraft;
* Open captioning for in-flight movies and videos;
* TT service on aircraft.
There are many others.
The Department of Transportation, along with groups
representing people with disabilities and the air carrier
industry, is dedicated to eliminating these barriers with all
possible speed.
December 1991
الخميس، 17 يناير 2019
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