New Rules May Help Handicapped

New rules proposed by the Department of Transportation may offer handicapped travelers with complaints of airline discrimination a chance for financial compensation.

Comparable to the rules of compensation for overbooking, a passenger who can establish that he or she is the victim of discrimination by a carrier might be able to get the value of the ticket refunded, up to a $200 maximum, if the plan is approved. The passenger could get an extra $150 if the DOT determines that there is a violation, rather than the airline admitting it.

If a carrier’s violation of the anti-discrimination rules causes a passenger to have to pay for an attendant, the airlines would have to reimburse the passenger for the attendant’s ticket and related expenses up to a maximum of twice the cost of the ticket.

Written Explanation

Disabled travelers denied the opportunity to take equipment with them such as wheelchairs or seeing-eye dogs, and who can’t get alternate transportation (on the same basis as the rules for overbooking), might get compensation of twice the value of their tickets, up to $400.

Under the proposed rules, which the public is encouraged to comment on, airlines would not be allowed to prohibit disabled travelers from flying on the basis of their handicap, appearance or involuntary behavior as long as the passenger can be flown safely. Passengers denied flights would be entitled to a written explanation of the reason within 10 days.

Airlines would also not be allowed to limit the number of disabled persons per flight. Similarly, carriers would not be able to place any restrictions on putting handicapped travelers by exit seats.

However, the latter provision calls for Federal Aviation Administration review, and some organizations for the disabled have complained that, in effect, it would allow the FAA to draft rules that reinstate the airlines’ authority to restrict exit seating for disabled (particularly blind) passengers.

New planes designed to carry more than 30 passengers are supposed to be modified to include on-board wheelchairs, lavatories accessible to those wheelchairs and movable armrests on aisle seats.

One of the biggest problems for passengers in wheelchairs is getting into the lavatory. Handicapped groups have criticized this proposal on the grounds that the airlines can avoid making such wheelchair/lavatory modifications on new planes if they can prove that they will lose revenue-producing seats in the process.

Problems With Rules

“Such loopholes have to be closed,” said Yvonne Nau, a travel agent who also serves as secretary/treasurer of the Los Angeles-based Travel Industry Disabled Exchange. “And the rules on movable armrests aren’t effective unless all the seats have them. Otherwise, most of the time, disabled people don’t get the seats with movable armrests.”

Many foreign airlines and some domestic carriers already carry wheelchairs designed for use aboard the jets. The DOT is calling for comment on whether this piece of equipment should be required to be on planes, or just be available on flights when passengers request them in advance.

Other provisions mandate that no advance notice is required unless the passenger needs special services such as oxygen, respirator, stretcher, wheelchair or special packing for wheelchair batteries.

“Airlines would be required to accept wet-cell batteries for wheelchairs and to provide hazardous materials packaging for wheelchair batteries as long as you provide notice,” Nau said.

“Some carriers have provided containers. But in the past, airlines have turned away passengers with wheelchairs containing wet-cell batteries on the basis that the batteries might leak, even when leak-free containers were being used. In some cases the airline personnel didn’t really know the difference between wet- and dry-cell batteries.”

Space for Wheelchairs

In another welcome measure, Nau said, airlines would be required to look for closet space for wheelchairs in the passenger cabin. “In the past, airline personnel would just arbitrarily say no storage space was available in the cabins,” Nau said. “If we have the wheelchair in the cabin, it’s immediately available to us upon arrival.”

The proposal also asks for comment on whether new planes should have sufficient storage space for at least one folding wheelchair.

Attendants are not required unless the passenger is on a stretcher or certain mental disabilities are involved. Deaf and blind passengers, as well as quadriplegics, can travel without an attendant if they want to, but only if they are the first passenger to make such a request for that flight. Ensuing passengers for the same flight who might require an attendant would have to leave this decision up to the airline.

“This rule isn’t going to work,” Nau predicted. “It’s going to wind up being just as discriminatory as before for most disabled passengers.”

Nau cited the case of one client. “A woman had cerebral palsy and couldn’t use her arms. However, she was prepared not to eat on her flight and to dehydrate herself to avoid use of the lavatory. Therefore, she felt she didn’t need an attendant, but the airline felt otherwise. Under this new rule, if she was the first passenger on the flight she would have been accepted without an attendant. But if she was the second or third, she might be out of luck.”

Augmented Data

While airlines are instructed to provide pertinent and timely information in their computerized reservation terminals and in flight, the DOT is looking for comments on the feasibility of including such information as accessibility of lavatories and the availability of in-flight wheelchairs in the data listed in the terminals.

The new rule could also affect how travel agents handle disabled passengers. Airlines are prohibited from discriminating against handicapped travelers, with that proviso including other outfits selling their tickets, which includes agents. Consequently, the DOT is asking that airlines have a non-discrimination clause put into their agreements with travel agencies.

Scheduled airlines, under the DOT rule, would have to offer reservations capabilities through special telecommunications equipment for the deaf to avoid a charge of discrimination. Accordingly, the rule could also be construed to mean that travel agencies have to follow suit, though the DOT has indicated that this is not its intent.

Send your comments on the DOT’s proposed rules changes for handicapped travelers by Sept. 20 to the Department of Transportation, Docket 45657, 400 7th St. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590.