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

Kiosk at Non-Airport Locations

The SNPRM: Although we proposed to apply the accessibility standard only to automated airport kiosks, we noted in the preamble that airlines may also own, lease, or control kiosks that provide flight-related services in non-airport venues (e.g., hotel lobbies) covered by ADA title III rules. We asked for public comment on whether kiosks that carriers provide in non-airport venues should also be covered by this rulemaking.

Comments: Six disability advocacy organizations (ACB, AFB, NFB, NCIL, PVA, and BBI) strongly urged the Department to apply the accessibility requirements to kiosks in non-airport locations. PVA argued that airlines should be required to ensure that kiosks providing flight-related services are accessible wherever they are located. ACB, AFB, NFB, NCIL and BBI all noted that both DOT and DOJ potentially have jurisdiction over kiosks in non-airport locations. ACB and AFB acknowledged that there may be differences between the DOT and DOJ requirements for kiosk accessibility given that DOJ is currently working on a rulemaking to apply accessibility standards to kiosks other than ATMs and fare machines provided by entities covered under ADA title III. NFB, NCIL and BBI all supported DOT's initiative to cover non-airport kiosks under the ACAA but expressed concern that the ACAA regulations not impede or interfere with rights and remedies available under the ADA or other laws. The ACAA, for example, lacks a private right of action like that provided by the ADA against entities that violate the law. NFB, ACB, and AFB specifically urged the Department to cover non-airport kiosks in the final rule and to state in the preamble that ADA provisions prevail when there is an overlap with the ACAA provisions. Among individual commenters, there was a mix of responses for and against applying the accessibility standard in DOT's final rule to airline kiosks in non-airport venues. Individual members of the public who did not identify themselves as having a disability tended to oppose applying the standard to kiosks located outside airports due to concerns about possible conflicts between the applicable DOT and DOJ standards.

On the industry side, only the carrier associations commented, stating that they were opposed to applying the DOT standard to airline kiosks located in places of public accommodation where ADA title III already applies.

DOT Decision: Although a case can be made to support covering airline-owned kiosks located in non-airport venues under the ACAA regulations, the Department believes there are compelling reasons for not doing so at this time. A primary goal of this ACAA rulemaking is to apply an accessibility standard to new automated airport kiosks installed after a certain date. To achieve this, airlines must work with the airports and their own technical teams, as well as with the hardware designers and software developers of their suppliers, to design, develop, test, and install accessible kiosks at airports with 10,000 or more annual enplanements where they own, lease, or control kiosks. Each carrier may have several different kiosk suppliers with whom they must work, depending on the airports they serve. We believe requiring airlines to meet the accessibility standard for kiosks located in non-airport venues would add significantly to their compliance burden and divert resources needed to meet their primary goal of compliance at U.S. airports. In our view, airline compliance with respect to airport kiosks is a technically complex and resource intensive undertaking that must take priority over making kiosks located in other places accessible. Within the next few years, kiosks in non-airport locations will be subject to DOJ's accessibility design standard under its revised ADA title II and III regulations. This means that at most there will be a lag of a few years from the time airline kiosks at airport locations and those at non-airport locations are required to be accessible. We believe this time lag is an acceptable trade off to support proper implementation of the fundamental goal of airport kiosk accessibility.