14 CFR Part 382 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel (Air Carrier Access Act): Preamble and Section-by-Section Analysis (with amendments issued through July 2010)

382.27 May a carrier require a passenger with a disability to provide advance notice in order to obtain specific services in connection with a flight? Carriers may not require a passenger with a disability to provide advance notice of the fact that he or she is traveling on a flight. That is, a carrier cannot say to a passenger, in effect, “You have a disability; therefore, you must let me know in advance that you are going to fly on my aircraft, Flight XXX.”

On the other hand, there is a series of accommodations that many passengers with disabilities may need or want that carriers reasonably require time to arrange. For these services, carriers may require up to 48 hours’ advance notice (i.e., 48 hours before the scheduled departure time of the flight) AND a check-in time one hour before the check-in time for the general public. That is, if passengers generally are told to arrive at the gate one hour before the scheduled departure time of the flight to check in, the carrier may tell passengers seeking one of these listed accommodations to check in two hours before the scheduled departure time for the flight. If the passenger with a disability meets the advance notice and check-in time requirements, the carrier must provide the requested accommodation. If not, the carrier must still provide the accommodation if it can do so by making reasonable efforts, without delaying the flight.

Most of the services or accommodations for which a carrier can require advance notice are the same as under the existing regulation (e.g., transportation of an electric wheelchair on a flight scheduled to be made on an aircraft with fewer than 60 seats, accommodation for a group of 10 or more passengers with a disability who make reservations to travel as a group). It is important to note that, with respect to the onboard use of supplemental oxygen, advance notice can be required of a passenger whether the carrier provides the oxygen (i.e., via POC or containerized oxygen,) or the passenger brings his or her own POC for use during the flight. It should also be noted that when requesting carrier-supplied supplemental oxygen, advance notice of up to 48 hours for domestic flights and up to 72 hours for international flights may be required.

There are a few new situations in which the rule permits carriers to require advance notice. These include transportation of an emotional support or psychiatric service animal, transportation of any service animal on a flight scheduled to take eight hours or more, and accommodation of an individual who has both severe vision and hearing impairments.