14 CFR Part 382 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel (Air Carrier Access Act) (with amendments issued through July 2003)

SUBPART D -- ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

§ 382.61 Training.

(a) Each carrier which operates aircraft with more than 19 passenger seats shall provide training, meeting the requirements of this paragraph, for all its personnel who deal with the traveling public, as appropriate to the duties of each employee.

(1) The carrier shall ensure training to proficiency concerning:

(i) The requirements of this part and other DOT or FAA regulations affecting the provision of air travel to persons with a disability; and

(ii) The carrier’s procedures, consistent with this part, concerning the provision of air travel to persons with a disability, including the proper and safe operation of any equipment used to accommodate passengers with a disability.

(2) The carrier shall also train such employees with respect to awareness and appropriate responses to persons with a disability, including persons with physical, sensory, mental, and emotional disabilities, including how to distinguish among the differing abilities of individuals with a disability.

(3) The carrier shall consult with organizations representing persons with disabilities in developing its training program and the policies and procedures concerning which carrier personnel are trained.

(4) The carrier shall ensure that personnel required to receive training shall complete the training by the following times:

(i) For crewmembers subject to training required under 14 CFR part 121 or 135, who are employed on the date the carrier’s program is established under § 382.63, as part of their next scheduled recurrent training;

(ii) For other personnel employed on the date the carrier’s program is established under § 382.63, within 180 days of that date;

(iii) For crewmembers subject to training requirements under 14 CFR part 121 or 135 whose employment in any given position commences after the date the carrier’s program is established under § 382.63, before they assume their duties; and

(iv) For other personnel whose employment in any given position commences after the date the carrier’s program is established under § 382.63, within 60 days of the date on which they assume their duties.

(5) Each carrier shall ensure that all personnel required to receive training receive refresher training on the matters covered by this section, as appropriate to the duties of each employee, as needed to maintain proficiency.

(6) Each carrier shall provide, or require its contractors to provide, training to the contractors’ employees concerning travel by persons with a disability. This training is required only for those contractor employees who deal directly with the traveling public at airports, and it shall be tailored to the employees’ functions. Training for contractor employees shall meet the requirements of paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(5) of this section.

(7) Current employees of each carrier designated as complaints resolution officials, for purposes of § 382.65 of this part, shall receive training concerning the requirements of this part and the duties of a complaints resolution official within 60 days of the effective date of this part (i.e., by June 4, 1990). Employees subsequently designated as complaints resolution officers shall receive this training before assuming their duties under § 382.65. All employees performing the complaints resolution official function shall receive annual refresher training concerning their duties and the provisions of this regulation.

(b) Each carrier operating only aircraft with 19 or fewer passenger seats shall provide training for flight crewmembers and appropriate personnel to ensure that they are familiar with the matters listed in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section and comply with the requirements of this part.

§ 382.63 Carrier programs.

(a)(1) Each carrier that operates aircraft with more than 19 passenger seats shall establish and implement, within 180 days of the effective date of this part (i.e., by October 2, 1990), a written program for carrying out the requirements of this part.

(2) Carriers are not excused from compliance with the provisions of this part during the 180 days before carrier programs are required to be established.

(b) The program shall include the following elements:

(1) The carrier’s schedule for training its personnel in compliance with § 382.61;

(2) The carrier’s policies and procedures for accommodating passengers with a disability consistent with the requirements of this part.

(c)(1) Major and National carriers (as defined in the DOT publication Air Carrier Traffic Statistics), and every U.S. carrier that shares the designator code of a Major or National carrier (as described in 14 CFR 399.88), shall submit their program to the Department for review within 180 days of the effective date of this part (i.e., by October 2, 1990).

(2) The Department shall review each carrier’s program, which the carrier shall implement without further DOT action at the time it is submitted to the Department.

(3) If the Department determines that any portion of a carrier’s plan must be amended, or provisions added or deleted, in order for the carrier to comply with this part, DOT will direct the carrier to make appropriate changes. The carrier shall incorporate these changes into its program and implement them.

(d) Other carriers shall maintain their programs on file, and shall make them available for review by the Department on the Department’s request. If, upon such review, the Department determines that any portion of a carrier’s plan must be amended, or provisions added or deleted, in order for the carrier to comply with this part, DOT will direct the carrier to make appropriate changes. The carrier shall incorporate these changes into its program and implement them.

§ 382.65 Compliance procedures.

(a) Each carrier providing scheduled service shall establish and implement a complaint resolution mechanism, including designating one or more complaints resolution official(s) (CRO) to be available at each airport which the carrier serves.

(1) The carrier shall make a CRO available to any person who complains of alleged violations of this part during all times the carrier is operating at the airport.

(2) The carrier may make the CRO available via telephone, at no cost to the passenger, if the CRO is not present in person at the airport at the time of the complaint. If a telephone link to the CRO is used, TDD service shall be available so that persons with hearing impairments may readily communicate with the CRO.

(3) Each CRO shall be thoroughly familiar with the requirements of this part and the carrier’s procedures with respect to passengers with a disability.

(4) Each CRO shall have the authority to make dispositive resolution of complaints on behalf of the carrier.

(5) When a complaint is made to a CRO, the CRO shall promptly take dispositive action as follows:

(i) If the complaint is made to a CRO before the action or proposed action of carrier personnel has resulted in a violation of a provision of this part, the CRO shall take or direct other carrier personnel to take action, as necessary, to ensure compliance with this part. Provided, That the CRO is not required to be given authority to countermand a decision of the pilot-in-command of an aircraft based on safety.

(ii) If an alleged violation of a provision of this part has already occurred, and the CRO agrees that a violation has occurred, the CRO shall provide to the complainant a written statement setting forth a summary of the facts and what steps, if any, the carrier proposes to take in response to the violation.

(iii) If the CRO determines that the carrier’s action does not violate a provision of this part, the CRO shall provide to the complainant a written statement including a summary of the facts and the reasons, under this part, for the determination.

(iv) The statements required to be provided in paragraph (a)(5) of this section shall inform the complainant of his or her right to pursue DOT enforcement action under this section. This statement shall be provided in person to the complainant at the airport if possible; otherwise, it shall be forwarded to the complainant within 10 calendar days of the complaint.

(b) Each carrier shall establish a procedure for resolving written complaints alleging violation of the provisions of this part.

(1) A carrier is not required to respond to a complaint postmarked more than 45 days after the date of the alleged violation.

(2) A written complaint shall state whether the complainant has contacted a CRO in the matter, the name of the CRO and the date of the contact, if available, and include any written response received from the CRO.

(3) The carrier shall make a dispositive written response to a written complaint alleging a violation of a provision of this part within 30 days of its receipt.

(i) If the carrier agrees that a violation has occurred, the carrier shall provide to the complainant a written statement setting forth a summary of the facts and what steps, if any, the carrier proposes to take in response to the violation.

(ii) If the carrier denies that a violation has occurred, the response shall include a summary of the facts and the carrier’s reasons, under this part, for the determination.

(iii) The statements required to be provided in paragraph (b)(3) of this section shall inform the complainant of his or her right to pursue DOT enforcement action under this section.

(c) Any person believing that a carrier has violated any provision of this part may contact the following office for assistance: Department of Transportation, Aviation Consumer Protection Division, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-2220.

(d) Any person believing that a carrier has violated any provision of this part may file a formal complaint under the applicable procedures of 14 CFR part 302.

§ 382.70 Disability-related complaints received by carriers.

(a) For the purposes of this section, a disability-related complaint means a specific written expression of dissatisfaction received from, or submitted on behalf, of an individual with a disability concerning a difficulty associated with the person’s disability, which the person experienced when using or attempting to use an air carrier’s or foreign air carrier’s services.

(b) This section applies to certificated U.S. carriers and foreign air carriers operating to, from, and in the United States, conducting passenger operations with at least one aircraft having a designed seating capacity of more than 60 passengers. Foreign air carriers are covered by this section only with respect to disability-related complaints associated with any flight segment originating or terminating in the United States.

(c) Carriers shall categorize disability-related complaints that they receive according to the type of disability and nature of complaint. Data concerning a passenger’s disability must be recorded separately in the following areas: vision impaired, hearing impaired, vision and hearing impaired, mentally impaired, communicable disease, allergies (e.g., food allergies, chemical sensitivity), paraplegic, quadriplegic, other wheelchair, oxygen, stretcher, other assistive device (cane, respirator, etc.), and other disability. Data concerning the alleged discrimination or service problem related to the disability must be separately recorded in the following areas: refusal to board, refusal to board without an attendant, security issues concerning disability, aircraft not accessible, airport not accessible, advance notice dispute, seating accommodation, failure to provide adequate or timely assistance, damage to assistive device, storage and delay of assistive device, service animal problem, unsatisfactory information, and other.

(d) Carriers shall submit an annual report summarizing the disability-related complaints that they received during the prior calendar year using the form specified in Appendix A to this Part. The first report shall cover complaints received during calendar year 2004 and shall be submitted to the Department of Transportation by January 25, 2005. Carriers shall submit all subsequent reports on the last Monday in January of that year for the prior calendar year. All submissions must be made through the World Wide Web except for situations where the carrier can demonstrate that it would suffer undue hardship if it were not permitted to submit the data via paper copies, disks, or email, and DOT has approved an exception. All fields in the form must be completed; carriers are to enter ‘‘0’’ where there were no complaints in a given category. Each annual report must contain the following certification signed by an authorized representative of the carrier: ‘‘I, the undersigned, do certify that this report has been prepared under my direction in accordance with the regulations in 14 CFR Part 382. I affirm that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, this is a true, correct, and complete report.’’ Electronic signatures will be accepted.

(e) Carriers shall retain correspondence and record of action taken on all disability-related complaints for three years after receipt of the complaint or creation of the record of action taken. Carriers must make these records available to Department of Transportation officials at their request.

(f)(1) In a code-share situation, each carrier shall comply with paragraphs (c) through (e) of this section for—

(i) Disability-related complaints it receives from or on behalf of passengers with respect to difficulties encountered in connection with service it provides;

(ii) Disability-related complaints it receives from or on behalf of passengers when it is unable to reach agreement with its code-share partner as to whether the complaint involves service it provides or service its code-share partner provides; and

(iii) Disability-related complaints forwarded by another carrier or governmental agency with respect to difficulties encountered in connection with service it provides.

(2) Each carrier shall also forward to its code-share partner disability-related complaints the carrier receives from or on behalf of passengers with respect to difficulties encountered in connection with service provided by its code-sharing partner.

(g) Each carrier, except for carriers in code-share situations, shall comply with paragraphs (c) through (e) of this section for disability-related complaints it receives from or on behalf of passengers as well as disability-related complaints forwarded by another carrier or governmental agency with respect to difficulties encountered in connection with service it provides.

(h) Carriers that do not submit their data via the Web shall use the disability-related complaint data form specified in appendix A to this part when filing their annual report summarizing the disability-related complaints they received. The report shall be mailed, by the dates specified in paragraph (d) of this section, to the following address: U.S. Department of Transportation, Aviation Consumer Protection Division, 400 7th Street, SW., Room 4107, C–75, Washington, DC 20590.

[Source: 68 FR 40488, July 8, 2003]