Federal Aviation Administration Draft Advisory Circular 150/5360-14A, Access to Airports by Individuals with Disabilities

1.6 Definitions.

1.6.1 Airport Operator.
Public agency or private entity that has ownership and/or management control (short-term and long-term planning, financial performance, maintenance, operation) of an airport.

1.6.2 Auxiliary Aids and Services.
Qualified interpreters, note takers, transcription services, written materials, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices, assistive listening systems, telephones compatible with hearing aids, closed caption decoders, open and closed captioning, Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD), videotext displays, or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments; qualified readers, taped texts, audio recordings, brailed materials, large print materials, or other effective methods of making visually delivered materials available to individuals with visual impairments; acquisition or modification of equipment or devices; and other similar services and actions. (28 CFR § 35.104).

1.6.3 Commercial Service Airport.
A public airport that enplanes 2,500 or more passengers annually and receives scheduled passenger aircraft service. (49 U.S.C. § 47102)(7)).

1.6.4 Concessionaire.
A firm that owns and controls a concession or a portion of a concession. (49 CFR § 23.3).

1.6.5 Designated Public Transportation.
Transportation provided by a public entity (other than public school transportation) by bus, rail, or other conveyances (other than transportation by aircraft or intercity or commuter rail transportation) that provides the general public with general or special service, including charter service, on a regular and continuing basis. (49 CFR § 37.3).

1.6.6 Disability.
With respect to an individual, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment. (28 CFR § 35.104). The November 1, 1996, amendment to 49 CFR part 27 and 14 CFR part 382 substituted the term "disability" in lieu of "handicap" to reflect an amendment to Section 504 and to be consistent with the ADA, ADAAA, and ACAA.

1.6.7 Discrimination.
Denying a person with disabilities the opportunity to participate in or benefit from any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. (49 CFR § 27.5).

1.6.8 Facility.
1.6.8.1 For purposes of Section 504, the term “facility” means any or all portion of buildings, structures, vehicles, equipment, roads, walks, parking lots, or other real or personal property or interest in such property. (49 CFR § 27.5).
1.6.8.2 For purposes of Title II of the ADA, the term “facility” means any or all portions of buildings, structures, sites, complexes, equipment, rolling stock or other conveyances, roads, walks, passageways, parking lots, or other real or personal property, including the site where the building, property, structure, or equipment is located. (28 CFR § 35.104).

1.6.9 Federal Financial Assistance.
Any grant, loan, contract (other than a procurement contract or a contract of insurance or guaranty), or any other arrangement by which the DOT provides or otherwise makes available assistance in the form of:
1. Funds;
2. Services of federal personnel; and
3. Real or personal property or any interest in, or use of such property, including: 
a. Transfers or leases of such property for less than fair market value or for reduced consideration; and 
b. Proceeds from a subsequent transfer or lease of such property if the federal share of its fair market value is not returned to the Federal Government (49 CFR § 27.5).

1.6.10 Fixed Route System.
A system of transporting individuals (other than by aircraft), including the provision of designated public transportation service by public entities and the provision of transportation service by private entities, including, but not limited to, specified public transportation service, on which a vehicle is operated along a prescribed route according to a fixed schedule. (49 CFR § 37.3).

1.6.11 Primary Airport Recipient.
Any airport operator authorized or required to extend federal financial assistance from the DOT to another airport operator for the purpose of carrying out a program. (49 CFR § 27.5). Note that for the purposes of this AC, the word primary does not relate to the activity level of the airport.

1.6.12 Public Accommodation.
A private entity that owns, is the lessee (or lessor) of, or operates a place of public accommodation. (28 CFR § 36.104).

1.6.13 Qualified Individual.
An individual who, with or without reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by an airport operator. (28 CFR § 35.104).

1.6.14 Regarded as having such an Impairment.
An individual who has a physical or mental impairment that does not substantially limit major life activities, but who is treated by a public or private entity as constituting such a limitation; has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity only as a result of the attitudes of others toward such an impairment; or has none of the impairments defined but is treated by a public or private entity as having such an impairment. (49 CFR § 37.3).

1.6.15 Recipient.
Any State, territory, possession, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico, or any political subdivision thereof, or instrumentality thereof, any public or private agency, institution, organization, or other entity, or any individual in any State, territory, possession, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico, to whom federal financial assistance from the DOT is extended directly or through another recipient, including any successor, assignee, or transferee thereof, but such term does not include any ultimate beneficiary. (49 CFR § 27.7).

1.6.16 Sponsor.

A public agency or private owner of a public-use airport that submits to the DOT an application for financial assistance. (U.S.C. § 47102 (26)).

1.6.17 Sponsor.
A public agency or private owner of a public-use airport that submits to the DOT an application for financial assistance. (U.S.C. § 47102 (26)).

1.6.18 Sterile Area.
A portion of an airport, specified in the airport security program, in which certain security measures specified in 49 CFR part 1542, Airport Security, are carried out. This area is where aircraft operators and foreign air carriers that have a security program under 49 CFR part 1544, Aircraft Operator Security: Air Carriers and Commercial Operators, or part 1546, Foreign Air Carrier Security, enplane and deplane passengers, and sort and load baggage. Also includes any adjacent areas that are not separated by adequate security measures. (49 CFR part 1540, Civil Aviation Security: General Rules).

1.6.18 Terminal.
For the purposes of this AC, a terminal is a distinct area common to and prior to any Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint, or a distinct sterile area common to and beyond one or more TSA checkpoints. Each non-sterile area that is housed in a separate building is considered a separate terminal, and any sterile area that can be accessed only through a specific checkpoint or checkpoints is considered a separate terminal.