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Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) vs Americans with Disabilities Act
Airlines are required to follow ACAA guidelines, not the ADA. If a traveler has a complaint regarding their air travel experience, they can submit a written complaint to the airline and/or the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT is required to investigate each complaint sent directly to them.
Complaints Resolution Official (CRO)
A CRO must be available in person or by phone to address any issues related to travelers with disabilities. The CRO is an advocate for travelers while ensuring the airline meets the requirements of the ACAA and Part 382. A copy of Part 382 can be found on the Department of Transportation’s website.
Part 382 Guidelines
- Airlines cannot discriminate against any qualified individual with a disability or require an individual with a disability to accept special services that aren’t requested.
- Websites need to be accessible and include information about accommodations.
- If requested, airlines must assist guests with disabilities from the moment they enter the airport to the moment they leave their destination.
- US Airlines are required to provide prompt vision, hearing, and mobility assistance for travelers from terminal entrance to gate, between gates, to functional areas such as the bathroom or a restaurant, when boarding, in flight, deplaning, to baggage claim, and to the exit of the terminal.
- US airports are required to have service animal relief areas (SARAs) in each terminal, accessible kiosks, closed captioning, and accessible bathrooms.
- If a passenger is unable to maneuver around the terminal without assistance, carriers cannot leave that passenger alone for more than thirty minutes.
- Airlines must provide information about the location of moveable armrests on a flight and any aircraft-related accessibility limitations on request.
- Seating accommodations must be made for a guest with a disability traveling with a personal care attendant, a guide, an interpreter, a service animal, or with an immobilized leg.
- Airlines must allow passengers to stow manual wheelchairs, canes, crutches, walkers, individual parts of wheelchairs (joystick, wheels) and durable medical equipment in the cabin at no charge on a first come first serve basis if they pre-board.
- Aircrafts under 60 passenger seats are not required to have an aisle wheelchair.
- Airlines cannot limit the number of passengers with a disability on a flight, but you should give advance notice to the airline if you are traveling with a group of ten or more individuals with disabilities.
- All passengers with disabilities are allowed to pre-board.
- On the aircraft, airlines are required to provide assistance with the aisle wheelchair when moving to and from seats during enplaning, deplaning, and when using the restroom if there is an accessible restroom onboard, with stowing and retrieving carry-on items in the overhead bin, and in communicating safety information to those who have vision or hearing loss.
- Airlines are required to stow battery powered mobility devices as checked luggage unless the device’s size prohibits it from fitting through the aircraft’s door. If that is the case, airlines may deny boarding at that time, but must change the passenger’s flight to another aircraft.
Below is a link to the DOT Part 382 Guidelines:
https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/382short.pdf