14 CFR Parts 382 and 399; 49 CFR Part 27 - Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel: Accessibility of Web Sites and Automated Kiosks at U.S. Airports - Preamble

Implementation Alternatives

The SNPRM: The Department proposed that all new kiosks ordered after the order deadline must be accessible. We asked for comment on whether a phasing in period over 10 years, gradually increasing the percentage of automated airport kiosk orders required to be accessible, would meaningfully reduce the cost of implementing the accessibility standard. We also asked whether we should require less than 100 percent of new airport kiosks to be accessible, and if so, what percentage of accessible kiosks we should require in each location at the airport. We noted that if only a percentage of kiosks were required to be accessible, the wait time for passengers who need an accessible automated kiosk could be significantly longer than for non-disabled passengers unless they were given some kind of priority access to those machines. We observed that any mandate for priority access to accessible kiosks could also carry the potential of stigmatizing and segregating those passengers.

Comments: ITI commented that from a development and manufacturing perspective, the timelines and resources needed to develop and incorporate “new accessibility solutions will be the same, regardless of whether all, or a percentage of, kiosks are required to comply with the new rules.” They added that from their perspective there also would be no meaningful cost reduction from a gradual phasing in of accessible kiosks. The carrier associations nonetheless opposed a requirement for all airport kiosks to be accessible, arguing that this approach is inconsistent with other Part 382 requirements (e.g., movable armrests are only required on fifty percent of aircraft aisle seats, one accessible lavatory on a twin aisle aircraft) and costly. They urged the Department to consider two compliance alternatives, each having a compliance date of 36 months after the effective date of the final rule: (1) Require ten percent of future kiosks ordered to include accessible features or, in the alternative, (2) require one accessible kiosk per passenger check in area at an airport. From their point of view, a reduced number of accessible kiosks will have no significant impact on passenger wait times since passengers with a disability who self-identify would be given priority to use an accessible kiosk, reducing their wait to the time it would take for someone already using the accessible kiosk to finish their transaction. In the event more than one passenger needs to use the accessible kiosk at the same time, agents will be available to assist. The carrier associations believe this approach will provide accessible kiosks to those who need and will use them, while better balancing the costs with the benefits. Air New Zealand made a similar argument, suggesting that requiring only 25 percent of airport kiosks to be accessible, in combination with priority access for passengers with disabilities, will provide passengers with disabilities the independent access they want and limit the additional financial burden to carriers. Spirit Airlines proposed that the Department require only 50 percent of new kiosks ordered to be accessible, until a total of 25 percent of airport kiosks are accessible. The San Francisco International Airport, on the other hand, took the position that the Department should require 100 percent of kiosks to be accessible by a date to be determined after taking manufacturing capabilities and other factors into consideration. They saw this approach as the best way to avoid potential problems for airports having to maintain both accessible and inaccessible kiosk models.

DOT Decision: We are requiring that all new kiosks installed at U.S. airports three years or more after the effective date of the rule be accessible until at least 25 percent of kiosks in each location at the airport are accessible. We agree with the comments of Air New Zealand that having 25 percent of airport kiosks accessible (as opposed to more than 25 percent), in combination with priority access for passengers with disabilities to those kiosks, will enable passengers with disabilities to independently use airport kiosks and limit the additional costs to carriers and airports associated with acquiring and installing accessible kiosks. Nonetheless, the Department intends to monitor implementation of this rule to determine whether delay in obtaining access to an accessible kiosk is a significant problem for passengers with disabilities, despite the priority access provision, especially during peak demand times. If so, we may issue further regulations to address the matter. Of course, airlines and airports may always choose to make more than 25 percent of airport kiosks accessible. As noted by San Francisco International Airport, one advantage of making 100 percent of airport kiosks accessible is avoidance of the potential costs associated with maintaining and supporting both accessible and inaccessible kiosk models.

As we stated earlier, the requirement for at least 25 percent of accessible automated airport kiosks at each location in U.S. airports with 10,000 or more enplanements means that at least 25 percent of kiosks provided in each cluster of kiosks and all stand-alone kiosks at the airport must be accessible. For example, in a location where five kiosks are situated in close proximity to one another, such as near a ticket counter, at least two of those kiosks must be accessible; in locations where a single kiosk is provided which is not in close proximity to another kiosk, the single kiosk must be accessible. In addition, when the kiosks provided in a location at the airport perform more than one function (e.g., print boarding passes/bag tags, accept payment for flight amenities such as seating upgrades/meals/WiFi access, rebook tickets, etc.), the accessible kiosks must provide all the same functions as the inaccessible kiosks in that location. These days many kiosks provide a broad range of functionality beyond simple check-in. Kiosks that perform different functions are considered to be of different types. Accessible automated airport kiosks must provide all the functions provided to customers at that location at all times. For example, it is unacceptable for the accessible automated airport kiosks at a particular location to only enable passengers to check-in and print out boarding passes while the inaccessible automated airport kiosks at that location also enable passengers to select or change seating, upgrade class of travel, change to an earlier or later flight, generate baggage tags and purchase inflight Wi-Fi sessions or other ancillary services. Whatever functions are available on inaccessible automated airport kiosks must also be available to customers using accessible airport kiosks at the same location. As noted above, the 25 percent requirement also applies to each location at the airport where kiosks are installed. It is not sufficient for a carrier or an airport to merely comply with the percentage for the airport as a whole, or even for a given terminal building if there are kiosks in more than one location in the terminal.

Based on data from commenters who estimated airport kiosk life spans, we estimate that the typical kiosk life span is no more than five to seven years. We believe it is reasonable to conclude that well before the end of the 10-year period after the effective date of this rule virtually all airport kiosks will have reached the end of their life span. As such, a total of at least 25 percent of airport kiosks in each location at a U.S. airport should have been replaced with an accessible kiosk by then. To ensure this outcome, we have added requirements that both carriers and airport operators must ensure that at least 25 percent of automated kiosk provided in each location at the airport must be accessible by ten years after the effective date of the rule. Accessible kiosks provided in each location at the airport must provide all the same functions as the inaccessible kiosks in that location.