APPENDIX I
Tips for Air Travelers with Disabilities
There are some commonly used accommodations, facilities, and services that carriers are required to make available to passengers with disabilities. Appendix I sets forth a list of tips or general guidelines for air travelers with disabilities to keep in mind that relate to these commonly used accommodations, facilities, and services. Therefore, the “you” referred to herein is an air traveler with a disability or air travelers with disabilities. Below are some specific tips.
Ask Questions and Provide Instructions
Know what to ask carrier personnel. You can ask for and carrier personnel must be able to provide information about aircraft accessibility, seating and movable armrests, lavatory accessibility, boarding options, and storage facilities on board, among other things.
Although advance notice is not generally required, understand that providing detailed information about the accommodations you need in advance of travel will assist carrier personnel in providing those accommodations in a correct and timely manner.
If you are transferring planes, you may want to investigate whether your trip involves more than one carrier. If so, contact each carrier to determine whether it is able to fully accommodate you. Keep in mind that carriers might provide such optional accommodations on their “mainline” flights only, not on the flights operated by their smaller code-share affiliates. For example, some carriers do not provide medical oxygen on board. Don’t assume that by communicating with the carrier for the first leg of your trip, other carriers handling the rest of the journey are fully briefed and able to accommodate you. Similarly, when booking reservations online, you may want to consider contacting each carrier by telephone to determine the carrier’s individual policies and to provide and receive specific information to ensure your needs are met for each leg of your journey.
If you are receiving assistance with transportation between gates by ground wheelchair, remember to instruct the personnel assisting you on your specific needs, e.g., whether or not you would like the airline employee or contractor to push you and the ground wheelchair through the terminal. Although in most instances you are not obligated to self identify as a passenger with a disability, keep in mind that conveying certain information or providing some guidance will permit carrier personnel to assist you better.
Directing carrier personnel to remove footrests (if possible) and other removable parts of personal wheelchairs and stow them in the cabin may help to reduce the potential for damage to the wheelchair while it is stowed in the cabin or in the cargo hold.
Boarding Assistance
When communicating to carrier personnel about your need for boarding assistance, be as specific as possible about the type or level of boarding assistance you require. More specifically, if, for example, you are completely immobile, ask carrier personnel to provide a wheelchair to transport you to and from the gate, a lift (if necessary), and assistance transferring from an aisle chair to a seat. If, for example, you are able to walk short distances, but cannot ascend and descend steps, ask carrier personnel to provide a wheelchair for longer distances to and from the aircraft and a lift (if necessary). If, for example, you can ascend and descend stairs and can walk shorter distances but have difficulty walking longer distances, ask carrier personnel to provide a wheelchair or electric cart for longer distances to and from the aircraft.
Carrier personnel are not permitted to physically hand-carry a passenger with a disability on or off a plane, except in the case of an emergency evacuation. Keep in mind that if none of the options for boarding a particular flight is acceptable to you, you may have to wait for another flight or alter your travel plans.
Carrying Assistive Devices and Keeping Them Near You
Carrying medicine or other assistive devices like syringes as a carry-on item that you may need in the case of a flight cancellation or a missed flight may be a good idea. At times, passengers get separated unexpectedly from checked baggage. If you do decide to carry medication or other assistive devices with you on board, the items cannot be counted towards your carry-on baggage limit.
You are entitled to keep your assistive device near you on board as long as it does not interfere with safety requirements.
Carry Information and Useful Documentation
Bringing photocopies of instructions about the assembly and disassembly of wheelchairs and other assistive devices when you access air transportation may be a good idea. You can provide that information to carrier personnel storing or checking your wheelchair or assistive device. Attaching a laminated set of brief instructions to a wheelchair itself may also be a good idea in the event that your wheelchair is disassembled or reassembled in a secure area to which you do not have access.
Bringing photocopies of receipts, warranties, or other product information concerning a wheelchair or assistive device may be useful if the item is lost or damaged in transit. It might help with locating a repair option or processing a claim for liability against the carrier responsible for the loss or damage.
Complaints
Be aware that a Complaint Resolution Official (CRO) must be made available to you if you ask to speak with a manager or supervisor about a disability-related complaint. A CRO may be made available in person or by telephone. Passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing must be permitted to communicate with a CRO via a TTY on request.
If you make a written complaint, you should state whether a CRO was contacted when the matter arose and, if so, include the name of the CRO and the date of the contact, if available, and any written response received from the CRO.
Familiarize Yourself with the Law
Knowledge of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and its implementing regulations (14 CFR part 382) will permit you to be able to ask the right questions and share the most useful information with carriers. Some passengers with disabilities bring a copy of the regulations with them when they access air transportation in order to have the primary resource close at hand. Carriers must maintain a copy of the regulations at each airport they use. Therefore, if you are at an airport and have a question about the regulations, you may ask to review them and the carrier must provide them.
Individual Safety Briefings
You may receive an individual safety briefing under certain circumstances. If so, you should be provided an accessible safety briefing and it must be performed in a discreet manner. Keep in mind that you may need to provide information to carrier personnel to ensure that the individual safety briefing is accessible to you.
Limitations on Accommodations
Carrier personnel are expressly prohibited from performing certain tasks. For example, carrier personnel cannot physically hand-carry you on or off an airplane except in an emergency evacuation. In addition, while on board, carrier personnel are not required to administer medication to you, feed you, or accompany you into the lavatory to assist you.
Pre-boarding as an Option
Although you are not required to pre-board, choosing to take advantage of a pre-boarding opportunity may assist you in securing a seating accommodation when a carrier does not provide advance seat assignments. In this situation, as a passenger with a disability, you may choose to pre-board before all other passengers. You can select a seat that best meets your needs if you have taken advantage of the opportunity to pre-board.
Pre-boarding may also permit you to secure the allotted stowage for your wheelchair or assistive device or it may permit easier access to overhead compartments if you are stowing your assistive device or parts of your wheelchair onboard.
Safety Always Considered
You should keep in mind that carriers are obligated to take the safety of all passengers into consideration when making decisions about accommodations for passengers with disabilities. At times, safety requires placing certain limitations on accommodations, e.g., a service animal cannot block the aisle or an exit.
Seating Assignments
When requesting a particular seat assignment, it is useful to be as specific as possible about the type of seat that will meet your needs as a passenger with a disability. For example, instead of merely asking for an “accessible” seat, it is more helpful to provide some details about your specific needs, e.g., ask for a bulkhead seat or an aisle seat with a movable armrest. This way, carrier personnel can determine the most appropriate seating accommodation for you.
Service Animals
It is not required under the law to provide advance notice if you are traveling with a service animal. However, in order to guarantee your seat assignment, you should be aware that, depending on whether the carrier provides advance seat assignments and the type of seating method it uses, it may have a policy requiring passengers with a disability (i) to request a particular seat assignment 24 hours in advance of the departure of the flight or (ii) to check in at least an hour before the departure of the flight. Carriers are obligated to make a good faith effort to accommodate you and your service animal regardless of whether you comply with the carrier’s advance seat assignment policy and/or advance check-in requirement. Keep in mind that requesting your seat assignment well in advance of the flight may permit you to secure the specific seat assignment you would like with the least amount of waiting, inconvenience, or hassle to you.
Resources for Air Travelers with Disabilities
DOT Web site
DOT posts useful information for all consumers, including air travelers with disabilities, on its web site at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov. Click on “Travel Tips and Publications.” The following publications are useful for air travelers with disabilities: Plane Talk – Passengers with Disabilities, Fly Rights, and New Horizons: Information for the Air Traveler with a Disability.
Air travelers with disabilities can also access recent DOT enforcement orders to review DOT determinations involving the ACAA and part 382 by going to www.dot.gov and clicking on “Dockets and Regulations.” See Appendix III for additional instructions for searching this data base of DOT enforcement orders and for a chart listing those enforcement orders related to the ACAA.
DOT Hotline
The toll free telephone hotline system that provides general information about the rights of air travelers with disabilities, responds to requests for information, and assists air travelers with time-sensitive disability-related issues. Members of the public may call 1-800-778-4838 (voice) or 1-800-455-9880 (TTY) from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time, seven days a week, to receive assistance regarding air travel by individuals with disabilities.
Carriers’ Web Pages and Reservations Personnel
Always check these resources when seeking information about services and equipment when accessing air transportation.
User Comments/Questions
Add Comment/Question