Note: AAPD is nonpartisan and does not support or oppose any candidate for office. We do urge individuals with disabilities and their allies to thoroughly research the candidates who will be on their ballot and consider which candidates demonstrate a commitment to prioritizing issues that are important to people with disabilities.
As Americans begin to vote, AAPD is providing information about some of those key disability issues, and relevant policy changes in those issue areas since the last presidential election.
For far too long, disabled people have faced significant barriers to safe, accessible air travel: wheelchairs and other assistive devices are frequently lost, broken, or damaged, passengers sustain personal injuries during seat transfers, and aircraft lavatories are inaccessible.
The cost of this harm is very high for disabled passengers. Sustaining bodily injuries and losing the use of one’s wheelchair or mobility device can result in lost wages, inability to work or participate in daily activities, severe pain or health complications, and even death. In 2021, disability rights activist Engracia Figueroa died from injuries sustained after her customized wheelchair was damaged on a United Airlines flight.
As part of the Biden-Harris administration, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has made improving air travel for people with disabilities a top priority, creating an Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights in 2022, finalizing a rule to require accessible lavatories on single-aisle aircraft in 2023, and announcing a proposed rule to ensure that who use wheelchairs can fly safely earlier this year.
The Biden-Harris administration has demonstrated a significant commitment to hold airlines accountable. Last week on October 23, the Department of Transportation announced it was fining American Airlines a $50 million penalty for their mistreatment of disabled passengers and their mobility equipment. The fine was levied after a Department of Transportation (DOT) review of complaints against American Airlines from 2019-2023 which revealed “cases of unsafe physical assistance that at times resulted in injuries and undignified treatment of wheelchair users, in addition to repeated failures to provide prompt wheelchair assistance.” We applaud the efforts of individuals and organizations in the disability community who took time to share their experiences of mistreatment while traveling and filed complaints with the Department of Transportation.
These actions have been vital actions for safer air travel for disabled passengers. However, DOT has yet to issue the finalized version of its recent proposed rule, “Ensuring Safe Accommodations for Air Travelers with Disabilities Using Wheelchairs,” which would require prompt, safe, and dignified assistance for air travelers with disabilities, mandate training for airline and airport contractor personnel who assist passengers with disabilities, and establish new actions that airlines must take to protect passengers with disabilities when a wheelchair is broken or damaged during transport.
AAPD submitted comments with Hand in Hand (link) supporting the rule and calling for its expansion in June. Importantly, our comments included stories from disabled people people who experienced discrimination while flying. We also joined the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents airport workers, and the National Disability Rights Network to urge the Department of Transportation to implement the strongest possible rules mandating airport worker training for those who assist passengers with disabilities. Improved training for personnel who assist passengers with disabilities in both getting through TSA security and to the gate, as well as those who assist passengers with boarding and deplaning will significantly reduce the incidence of bodily harm to passengers and workers, and greatly reduce the number of lost, broken, or damaged wheelchairs.
AAPD supports the changes made by the Biden-Harris administration to achieve accessible and safe air travel for disabled passengers, and hopes these efforts will continue.
Federal regulations can change with new presidential administrations. New administrations sometimes overturn or re-regulate the previous administration’s regulations.
Have you voted yet? Be sure to check out AAPD’s state guides for information on accessible voting, and make a plan to vote on or before November 5, 2024.