The Biden administration announced Thursday that it is proposing new rules for how airlines treat passengers in wheelchairs in an effort to improve air travel for people with disabilities.
Under the proposal, damaging or delaying the return of a wheelchair would be an automatic violation of an existing federal law that prohibits airlines from discriminating against people with disabilities. The Transportation Department said the change would make it easier for the agency to penalize airlines for mishandling wheelchairs.
The proposed regulations would also require more in-depth training for workers who physically assist disabled passengers or operate their wheelchairs.
“There are millions of Americans with disabilities who do not travel by air because of poor aviation practices and inadequate government regulation, but now we are moving to change that,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “This new rule would change the way airlines operate to ensure travelers in wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.”
Flying can be difficult and uncomfortable for people in wheelchairs, and plane mishaps can be an even more distressing experience. According to the Transportation Department, more than 11,000 wheelchairs and scooters were mishandled by airlines last year.
The proposed regulations complement previous Biden administration actions aimed at improving the flying experience for disabled travelers. In 2022, the Department of Transportation released a Bill of Rights for Airline Passengers with Disabilities. Last year, the agency issued new rules requiring more commercial aircraft to have accessible restrooms.
Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former Army helicopter pilot who uses a wheelchair after losing both legs in the Iraq War, noted that airlines had previously unsuccessfully fought a rule that would require them to limit the number of wheelchairs and disclosing scooters they mishandled. Ms Duckworth said since airlines began reporting these numbers several years ago, she has seen improvements at airports across the country.
Ms. Duckworth, a Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee's aviation subcommittee, said she hoped the proposed rules would lead to a higher level of accountability for airlines. But she added that Congress should take action to protect the policies the Biden administration plans to put in place.
“This rule could be repealed by a future Department of Transportation under a different administration,” said Ms. Duckworth, who attended a White House event on Thursday where Mr. Buttigieg discussed the new proposal.
At the event, Carl Blake, executive director of Paralyzed Veterans of America, who petitioned the Transportation Department to draft new regulations to improve the boarding and disembarking process for disabled passengers, said he had never met a member of his organization who had flown and whose wheelchair was not damaged at one time or another.
Mr Blake said the issue needed to be addressed urgently and he stressed the importance of using the new rules to hold airlines to account. “A rule without enforcement is no rule at all,” he said.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Airlines for America, a trade group that represents the nation's largest air carriers, said airlines have made progress to improve the flying experience for disabled passengers through measures such as improving training for their employees.
“U.S. airlines are committed to providing a high level of customer service and providing a positive and safe flying experience for passengers with disabilities,” said spokeswoman Hannah Walden.
Public comments on the proposed regulations will be accepted for 60 days. The Ministry of Transport has not given a timetable for the final implementation of the new measures.