Secretary Buttigieg Announces Sweeping Protections for Airline Passengers with Disabilities

Newly released final rule is the biggest expansion of rights for passengers with disabilities in a generation. Earlier this year, DOT issued a record-breaking penalty against American Airlines for unsafe and undignified treatment of passengers with disabilities.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued new protections for people with disabilities in commercial air travel that will ensure that they can fly safely and with dignity. 

The new final rule requires that airlines meet more rigorous standards for accommodating passengers with disabilities, especially for passengers who use wheelchairs. The rule sets new standards for assistance, mandates hands-on training for airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with disabilities and handle passengers' wheelchairs, and specifies actions that airlines must take to protect passengers when a wheelchair is damaged or delayed during transport. 

"Every passenger deserves safe, dignified travel when they fly—and we've taken unprecedented actions to hold airlines accountable when they do not provide fair treatment to passengers with disabilities," said Secretary Buttigieg. "With the new protections we're announcing today, we're establishing a new standard for air travel—with clear and thorough guidelines for airlines to ensure that passengers using wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity." 

An estimated 5.5 million Americans use a wheelchair, and many encounter barriers when it comes to air travel. DOT data shows that for every 100 wheelchairs or scooters transported on domestic flights at least one is damaged, delayed, or lost. 

When an individual's wheelchair is delayed or damaged by an airline, their mobility, health, and freedom can be severely impacted until the wheelchair can be returned or replaced. During a roundtable discussion in July 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary Buttigieg heard firsthand stories from people with disabilities whose lives were seriously affected by unsafe assistance and mishandling of their mobility device during air travel, including instances that resulted in serious injuries. One public survey found that one in ten people with a disability do not fly due to fear of bodily harm, damage to their wheelchair, or aircraft inaccessibility. 

Secretary Buttigieg has made improving air travel for people with disabilities a priority throughout his time in office. 

• In October 2024, DOT issued a landmark $50 million penalty against American Airlines for serious violations of the laws protecting airline passengers with disabilities, including cases of unsafe physical assistance that at times resulted in injuries and undignified treatment of wheelchair users.

• In July 2023, DOT finalized a rule to require airline lavatories to be accessible to people with disabilities.

• In July 2022, the Department established the first Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights to help educate passengers with disabilities about their rights when they travel. 

• In addition, DOT has laid the groundwork for a possible future rule that would address passengers staying in their own wheelchairs onboard airplanes.

• Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's Airport Terminals Program, DOT has funded over 150 projects to make airport terminals more accessible for people with disabilities. 

The rule takes major actions in the following areas: 

Safe and Dignified Assistance Standard: The rule requires that airlines provide safe and dignified assistance to individuals with disabilities. It defines "safe" to mean assistance provided to individuals with disabilities that does not put them at heightened risk of bodily injury. The rule defines "dignified" to mean assistance provided in a manner that respects a passenger's independence, autonomy, and privacy. 

Enhanced Training for Airline Personnel and Contractors: The rule requires annual training, including hands-on training, for airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with mobility disabilities or handle passengers' wheelchairs or scooters. As part of the required training, airline employees and contractors must be able to successfully demonstrate their knowledge such as through competency assessments or certification exams. All airline employees and contractors who provide physical assistance to persons with mobility disabilities or handle the transport of wheelchairs or scooters must receive training as specified in the final rule by June 17, 2026.  

Prompt Enplaning, Deplaning, and Connecting Assistance: The rule requires prompt enplaning, deplaning, and connecting assistance from airlines to passengers with disabilities, including moving within the airport terminal. For a person who uses a boarding chair to disembark an aircraft, prompt means that airline personnel and a boarding wheelchair are available to deplane the passenger when the last passenger who did not request deplaning assistance departs the aircraft. The passenger's personal wheelchair must be available as close as possible to the door of the aircraft to the maximum extent possible, if requested. 

Rebuttable Presumption of a Violation for Mishandlings: The rule clarifies that airlines must return all checked wheelchairs and other assistive devices to passengers in the condition in which they are received. It specifies that whenever a passenger's checked wheelchair or other assistive device that was in the airline's custody is not returned to the passenger in the same condition it was received, there is a rebuttable presumption that the airline mishandled the passenger's wheelchair or other assistive device in violation of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). The rule also specifies what an airline must demonstrate to overcome the presumption of a violation. 

Passenger Notifications: 

• Required Information Prior to Departure: The rule requires airlines to notify passengers in writing when they are checking their wheelchairs or scooters that if their wheelchair or scooter is mishandled, they have a right to contact a Complaint Resolution Official (CRO) and to be provided information on how to contact the CRO and a right to file a claim with the airline. It also requires airlines to notify passengers whether their wheelchairs or scooters have been loaded onto their flights (including whether their device could not fit on the passenger's scheduled flight because of its size or weight) before the aircraft cabin door closes.

• Required Information Upon Arrival: The rule requires airlines to notify passengers, before passengers deplane, when their wheelchairs or scooters have been unloaded from the cargo compartment of their flights.

• Required Information After Wheelchair or Scooter is Mishandled: The rule requires airlines to notify in writing passengers whose wheelchairs or scooters have been mishandled of their rights: (1) to file a claim with the airline, (2) to receive a loaner wheelchair from the airline with certain customizations, (3) to choose a preferred vendor, if desired, for device repairs or replacement, and (4) to have a CRO available and be provided information on how to contact the CRO. It also requires airlines to provide status update notifications to passengers on their delayed wheelchairs or scooters.

Publication of Information Related to Aircraft Cargo Holds: The rule requires airlines to publish in a prominent and easily accessible place on their public websites, information describing the relevant dimensions and other characteristics of the cargo holds of all aircraft types operated by the airline, including the dimensions of the cargo hold entry.

Prompt Return of Delayed Wheelchairs or Scooters: The rule requires airlines to transport a delayed wheelchair or scooter to the passenger's final destination within 24 hours of the passenger's arrival for domestic flights and short international flights (12 hours or less in duration) and within 30 hours of the passenger's arrival for long international flights (more than 12 hours in duration). Airlines must transport the device by whatever means are available to do so safely. The rule provides the passenger a choice between picking up the delayed wheelchair at their destination airport or having the wheelchair or scooter delivered to a reasonable location requested by the passenger, such as the passenger's home or hotel. 

Reimbursement for Accessible Ground Transportation: The rule requires airlines to reimburse passengers for the costs of any transportation to or from the airport that the passenger incurred as a direct result of the passenger's wheelchair or scooter being delayed by the airline.  

Prompt Repair or Replacement of Damaged Wheelchairs: Following a wheelchair mishandling, the rule requires airlines to provide the passenger a reasonable timeframe to inspect the wheelchair for damage and to file a claim with the airline for the mishandling and offer the passenger the options of: (a) the airline handling the prompt repair or replacement of the device and paying the associated costs, or (b) the passenger arranging for the repair or replacement of the device through their preferred vendor with the airline having the responsibility to transport the device to the passenger's preferred vendor and to pay the vendor directly for the repairs or replacement. 

Loaner Wheelchair or Scooter Accommodations: The rule requires airlines to provide and pay for loaner wheelchairs or scooters while individuals with disabilities are waiting on returns, repairs, or replacements for their mishandled devices. It also requires airlines to consult with the individual receiving the loaner wheelchair or scooter to ensure that the loaner wheelchair or scooter fits the passenger's functional needs, as much as possible, and safety-related needs. If the loaner offered by the airline does not meet the passenger's needs, the airline must allow the passenger to find and secure an alternative loaner wheelchair that is better than the one offered. In this case, the airline is required to reimburse the passenger for the cost of that loaner. 

Reimbursement of Fare Difference: The rule requires airlines to reimburse the difference between the fare on a flight a passenger who uses a wheelchair took and the fare on a flight that the passenger would have taken if their wheelchair had been able to fit in the cabin or cargo compartment of the aircraft. The fare difference requirement is limited to flights that occur on the same day, on the same airline, and between the same origin and destination. 

Rebooking Requirements: The rule requires airlines to offer to disembark passengers and rebook them on the next available flight of the same carrier or a partner carrier at no additional cost when passengers' wheelchairs or scooters are not loaded on their scheduled flights, for whatever reason. It also requires airlines to also offer free rebooking on the next available flight of the same carrier or a partner carrier when the airline becomes aware that a passenger's personal wheelchair or scooter does not fit on the passenger's scheduled flight.  

Seating Accommodations at the Airport: The rule requires airlines to establish and provide, after consultation with disability rights organizations, safe and adequate seating accommodations to be used by a person with a disability when waiting at the airport for a delayed personal wheelchair or scooter or a loaner wheelchair or scooter after a passenger's wheelchair or scooter is mishandled by the carrier and cannot be promptly returned. 

New Improved Standards for On-Board Wheelchairs (OBW): The rule requires new improved performance standards for OBWs on twin-aisle aircraft and purchases of OBWs for use on aircraft with more than 60 seats after October 2, 2026, consistent with standards for OBWs on single-aisle aircraft with 125 or more seats. The rule requires all OBWs for use on aircraft with more than 60 seats to meet the Department's new improved standards by October 2, 2031. 

Individual requirements in the final rule have varying implementation timelines, ranging from January 16, 2025 to June 17, 2026 for training requirements. The final rule will be effective on January 16, 2025 and can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/latest-news.

Travelers can learn more about their protections when they fly at FlightRights.gov. Consumers may file an airline complaint with the Department here.