A group of major US airlines is taking the country’s Department of Transport (DOT) to court in a bid to avoid their new obligations towards disabled passengers. The new Biden-era rules set out consumer protections for wheelchair users that the carriers say they should not have to obey because they argue the DOT overstepped its remit.
The new rules made airlines accountable for returning wheelchairs to customers without delay and in the same condition they found them in, meaning the carriers were presumed responsible for any damage caused to wheelchairs while in their possession.
Rules brought in due to “inadequate airline practices”
If wheelchairs are damaged through mishandling, customers are supposed to be informed of their rights by the airlines, with the carriers also liable for repairing or replacing the equipment. Passengers are also entitled to reimbursement of any additional costs caused by the situation.
Introducing the regulations in 2024, Biden’s Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg said disabled passengers would benefit from travelling “safely and with dignity” thanks to the largest expansion of their customer rights for 15 years. The rules were designed to make life easier for the “millions of Americans with disabilities who do not travel by plane because of inadequate airline practices” said Secretary Buttigieg.
This is long overdue for American wheelchair users. Airlines will be held to a higher standard to provide prompt assistance for passengers with disabilities. pic.twitter.com/w5lH9oObCf
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) December 18, 2024
American Airlines fined $50 million in 2024
Around 5.5 million Americans are wheelchair users, according to USDOT estimates, and one in every 100 wheelchairs or scooters taken on a domestic flight is damaged, delayed, or lost. Data for 2023 shows that over 11,500 wheelchairs or scooters were mishandled. In 2024, after the introduction of the new rules, the government fined American Airlines a record $50 million (€47.8 million) for mistreatment of disabled passengers. Its failures meant some passengers were left without adequate assistance and they and their mobility equipment suffered.
This morning, the federal government is fining American Airlines $50 million for mishandling *thousands* of wheelchairs, including this case posted on TikTok last year. pic.twitter.com/csLkR9SFwS
— Pete Muntean (@petemuntean) October 23, 2024
But American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines as well as airline trade association Airlines for America, disagree with their new responsibilities and are challenging them in the 5th Circuit US Court of Appeals. They claim some of the protections “go beyond the USDOT’s statutory authority, violate the Administrative Procedure Act and represent regulatory overreach by the Biden Administration.”
Meaningful progress?
They also point out efforts to improve service for disabled passengers have yielded “meaningful progress.” American notes it received more than eight million requests from customers for wheelchair assistance in 2023 and less than 0.1 percent (or less than 1 in every 1,000) of those customers submitted a disability-related complaint. Online reactions to the airlines’ lawsuit on the Washington Post site however are mostly critical of the carriers.
The airlines’ legal challenge coincides with a legal bid by 17 States to end Section 504 protections for disabled people that ensure equal access to healthcare, education, and other services. If Section 504 protections were overturned the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) has said it would be “a disaster for people with disabilities.”
