WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has announced a new proposed rule from the Department of Transportation that would ensure airline passengers who use wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.
The proposed rule would require that airlines meet rigorous standards for accommodating passengers with disabilities safely and with dignity.
The proposal will set new standards for prompt, safe, and dignified assistance, mandate enhanced training for airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with disabilities and handle their wheelchairs.
The new rule will also specify actions that airlines must take to protect passengers when a wheelchair is damaged during transport. Notably, the proposed rule also would make it easier for DOT to hold airlines accountable when they damage or delay the return of a wheelchair by making it an automatic violation of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) to mishandle wheelchairs.
'There are millions of Americans with disabilities who do not travel by plane because of inadequate airline practices and inadequate government regulation, but now we are setting out to change that,' said Secretary Buttigieg. 'This new rule would change the way airlines operate to ensure that travelers using wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.'
This would represent the largest expansion of rights for airline passengers who use wheelchairs since 2008.
An estimated 5.5 million Americans use a wheelchair, and many encounter barriers when it comes to air travel. In 2023, 11,527 wheelchairs and scooters were mishandled by carriers, DOT data show.
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