Air Carrier Access Act Technical Assistance Manual (2005)

• What are some of the requirements of part 382 that you should be aware of? Following are some of the principal requirements of part 382. It is important to note that the requirements of part 382 listed below are not meant to be exhaustive. Rather, it is a list of requirements governing situations that you are likely to encounter on a regular basis.

• You must not discriminate against qualified individuals with a disability. [Sec. 382.7(a)(1)] You must not require a passenger with a disability to accept special services (including, but not limited to, pre-boarding) not requested by the passenger. [Sec. 382.7(a)(2)] Instead, you may ask a passenger with a disability if he or she would like a particular service, facility, or other accommodation. In addition, you must not exclude a qualified individual with a disability from or deny the individual the benefit of any air transportation or related services that are available to other passengers. [Sec. 382.7(a)(3)] For example, if you choose to provide ground transportation and overnight accommodations to passengers because of a flight cancellation, you must ensure that the ground transportation to the hotel, and the hotel itself, are accessible to a passenger with a disability.

• You must not refuse transportation to a passenger solely on the basis of a disability. [Sec. 382.31(a)]

• You must provide transportation to an individual with a disability who has an impairment that affects his or her appearance or results in involuntary behavior except under limited circumstances specified below. You must provide transportation to such individuals with disabilities even if the disability may offend, annoy, or inconvenience crewmembers or other passengers. [Sec. 382.31(b)] However, if the person’s disability results in involuntary behavior that would or might be inimical to the safety of the flight, then the person may properly be refused transportation. [Sec. 382.31(d)]

• You shall not limit the number of individuals with disabilities on a particular flight. [Sec. 382.31(c)]

If transportation of a passenger with a disability would endanger the safety of the aircraft or the health or safety of its passengers or violate an FAA safety regulation, you may refuse transportation to the individual with a disability. [Sec. 382.31(d)]

• You shall not require a passenger with a disability to travel with an attendant or to present a medical certificate, except in very limited circumstances. [Secs. 382.35(a) and 382.53(a)]

• You shall not exclude a passenger with a disability from any seat in an exit or other row solely on the basis of his or her disability except to comply with FAA safety rules. FAA safety rules establish criteria that must be met in order for a passenger to occupy a seat in the emergency exit rows. [14 CFR 121.585] If a passenger with a disability meets these FAA criteria, he or she must be allowed to sit in an emergency exit row. As with any other passenger, you must look at the individual passenger with a disability and reasonably assess whether he or she meets FAA criteria for exit-row seating. [Sec. 382.37(a)]

• You must provide timely enplaning, deplaning, and connecting assistance to passengers with disabilities requesting such assistance. As part of this duty, you must provide equipment (e.g., wheelchairs, electric carts, and aisle chairs) and personnel (e.g., individuals to propel wheelchairs and aisle chairs and individuals to assist passengers with disabilities in carrying and stowing their baggage). [Secs. 382.39(a)(1) and 382.39(b)(5)]

• You must allow a passenger with a disability to stow his or her cane or other assistive device inside the cabin of the aircraft close to his or her seat if it fits, consistent with FAA safety rules on carry-on items. [Sec. 382.41(c)]

• You must allow passengers to safely stow their wheelchairs or parts of wheelchairs (e.g., wheels, seats, etc.) in the overhead bin or under seats. [Sec. 382.41(e)(1)]

• You must ensure that there is space for at least one passenger with a disability to stow a folding wheelchair in the cabin of the aircraft if the aircraft has a designed seating capacity of 100 or more seats and the aircraft was ordered after April 5, 1990, or delivered after April 5, 1992. [Sec. 382.21(a)(2)]

• If there is a closet or other approved stowage area for passengers’ carry-on items of sufficient size to accommodate a folding, collapsible, or break-down wheelchair, the carrier must designate priority stowage space for at least one wheelchair in that area. A passenger with a disability who takes advantage of the offer of the opportunity to pre-board may stow his or her wheelchair in this area with priority over other carry-on items brought onto the aircraft by other passengers and flight crew enplaning at the same airport. A passenger with a disability who does not pre-board may use this space to stow his or her wheelchair on a first-come, first-served basis along with other passengers stowing their carry-on items. [Sec. 382.41(e)(2)]

• You must have a copy of Part 382 available at every airport you serve. Upon request by a passenger at the airport, you must make a copy available for review. [Sec. 382.45(d)]

• You must provide blind or visually-impaired passengers and passengers who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind, timely access to the same information given to other passengers at the airport or on the airplane. This includes, but is not limited to, information concerning gate assignments, delayed flights, and safety. [Secs. 382.45(c) and 382.47]

• You must allow service animals to accompany passengers with disabilities in the cabin consistent with FAA safety requirements. You must allow the service animal to sit in close proximity to its user, as long as the service animal does not block the aisle or other emergency evacuation route in violation of FAA safety regulations. Often this will mean that the service animal will sit under the seat in front of the disabled passenger to avoid obstructing an aisle or other space. Some service animals are held by their users in their arms as an adult would hold a human infant (limited to infants under two years of age) of roughly the same size. [Sec. 382.55]

• You must make available a Complaints Resolution Official (CRO) at the airport – in person or by telephone or TTY -- to address disability-related complaints that arise during the travel process at all times when your flights are operating at that airport. You must provide a CRO to a passenger even if the passenger does not use the term “Complaints Resolution Official” or “CRO.” When a passenger with a disability uses words such as “supervisor,” “manager,” “boss,” or “disability expert” in connection with resolving a disability-related issue, you must provide a CRO. [Sec. 382.65]

• You must not charge for services that are required by part 382. This means, for example, you must not ask for a tip when providing wheelchair service to a passenger. You may, however, impose a reasonable charge for services not required by part 382, i.e., optional services. Examples of such optional services include medical oxygen for use on board an aircraft or stretcher service. [Sec. 382.57]