Air Carrier Access Act Technical Assistance Manual (2005)

A. Advance Notice

You cannot require passengers with disabilities to provide advance notice of their intention to travel or of their disability except as provided below. [Sec. 382.33(a)]

Advance Notice Only for Particular Services and Equipment

You may require up to 48 hours’ advance notice and one hour’s advance check-in from a passenger with a disability who wishes to receive the following services:

• Transportation for a battery-powered wheelchair on an aircraft with fewer than 60 seats;

• Provision by the carrier of hazardous materials packaging for the battery of a wheelchair or other assistive device;

• Accommodations for 10 or more passengers with disabilities who travel as a group; and

• Provision of an on-board wheelchair on an aircraft that does not have an accessible lavatory for passengers with disabilities who can use an inaccessible lavatory but need an on-board chair to do so. [Secs. 382.33(b)(5)-(8)]

Example: While making his reservation, a passenger with a disability gave the reservation agent 48 hours’ advance notice that he would need an aisle chair to access the lavatory on his upcoming flight. The flight is on an aircraft with more than 60 seats and it does not have an accessible lavatory. During the call, the passenger is made aware of the fact that the lavatory is inaccessible, but explains that he can use an inaccessible lavatory as long as he has access to a carrier-provided aisle chair. Because the passenger has complied with the advance notice requirement here, normally this information would have been entered into the passenger’s reservation record (otherwise known as the passenger name record (PNR)) by the carrier and the request for an aisle chair would have been handled through that notification process. You are a new gate agent for your carrier and when this passenger approaches you at the gate more than an hour before the scheduled departure time of the flight and asks about the aisle chair, you are not sure how to reply. What should you do?

To begin, as a matter of good customer service, you should tell the passenger that you are not sure but you will find out for him. You should ask a colleague and, if necessary, contact a CRO. When you ask your colleague, you are told that all aircraft with more than 60 seats in your carrier’s fleet maintain an in-cabin aisle chair. Once you receive this information you should assure the passenger that an aisle chair is available so he can use the inaccessible lavatory on the aircraft.

Advance Notice for Optional Services and Equipment

Although carriers are not required to provide the following services or equipment, if they choose to provide them, you may require 48 hours’ advance notice and one hour’s advance check-in for:

• Medical oxygen for use on board the aircraft;

• Carriage of an incubator;

• Hook-up for a respirator to the aircraft’s electrical power supply; and

• Accommodation for a passenger who must travel on a stretcher. [Secs. 382.33(b)(1)-(4)]

If appropriate advance notice has been given and the requested service is available on that particular flight, you must ensure that the service or equipment is provided.

Make a Reasonable Effort to Accommodate, Even Without Advance Notice

In addition, even if a passenger with a disability does not meet the advance notice or check-in requirement, you must make a reasonable effort to furnish the requested service or equipment, provided that making such accommodation would not delay the flight. [Secs. 382.33(c) and (e)]

Example 1: Mr. Thomas uses a battery-powered wheelchair. He travels frequently between Washington, DC, and New York for business. One day, he finds out that he has an important business meeting in New York and must travel up to New York that afternoon. He has no time to provide advance notice regarding the transportation of his battery-powered wheelchair and arrives at the gate 45 minutes before his flight is scheduled to depart. The aircraft for the flight has fewer than 60 passenger seats. What should you do?

Carriers may require 48 hours’ advance notice and one-hour advance check-in for transportation of a battery-powered wheelchair on a flight scheduled to be made on an aircraft with fewer than 60 seats. Carriers may require the same advance notice for provision of hazardous materials packaging for a battery. However, airline personnel are required to make reasonable efforts to accommodate a passenger who fails to provide the requisite notice to the extent it would not delay the flight. Therefore, you must make a reasonable effort to accommodate Mr. Thomas as long as it would not delay the flight.

Mr. Thomas is a frequent traveler on this particular route and he knows that usually it is feasible to load, store, secure, and unload his battery-powered wheelchair and spillable battery in an upright position [Sec. 382.41(g)(2)] or detach, “box”, and store the spillable battery [Sec. 382.41(g)(3)] within about 20-25 minutes. If this is the case, you must accommodate Mr. Thomas, his battery-powered wheelchair, and the spillable battery even though Mr. Thomas did not provide advance notice, since doing so would not delay the flight.

Example 2: Ms. Webster must travel with medical oxygen and shows up at the airport without providing advance notice of her need for medical oxygen. As a policy, your carrier does not provide medical oxygen on any flights. What should you do?

To begin, you should confirm that your carrier does not provide the optional service of medical oxygen for use on board a flight. If no medical oxygen service is available on your carrier, you should explain this to Ms. Webster and tell her that the carrier cannot accommodate her.

As a matter of customer service, you may direct Ms. Webster to another carrier that does provide medical oxygen service in that market. The passenger should be aware, however, that the provision of medical oxygen involves coordination with the passenger’s physician to determine the flow rate and the amount of oxygen needed and arranging for the delivery of the oxygen by the carrier to the point of origin of the passenger’s trip.

Therefore, normally, it is not possible to accommodate a passenger who needs medical oxygen on a flight unless the advance notice is provided because the accommodation cannot be made without delaying the flight.

If Aircraft is Substituted, Make an Effort to Accommodate

Even if a passenger with a disability provides advance notice, sometimes weather or mechanical problems require cancellation of the flight altogether or the substitution of another aircraft. Under these circumstances, you must, to the maximum extent feasible, assist in providing the accommodation originally requested by the passenger with a disability. [Sec. 382.33(f)]