DOT Increases Protections for Air Travelers with Disabilities
People with disabilities will have additional protections against discrimination when they travel by air, as the result of a new rule issued today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that strengthens the existing regulation implementing the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and extends it to foreign airlines.
The new rule will apply to foreign air carriers operating a flight that begins or ends in the United States. It applies to U.S. air carrier operations worldwide. Passengers flying to Europe, Asia, or other destinations on foreign air carriers now will have similar protections against discriminatory policies and be entitled to the same accommodations as passengers flying on U.S. carriers. DOT will also be better able to take enforcement action against a foreign carrier if it discriminates against an individual because of his or her disability on flights to or from the United States.
“This revised rule expands the protections people with disabilities will enjoy while traveling by air,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E.Peters said.
The new rule will also make it easier for passengers to use medical oxygen during flights by requiring airlines to allow the use in the passenger cabin of portable oxygen concentrators that meet applicable safety, security and hazardous materials requirements for safe use aboard aircraft. The Department will seek further comment in a supplemental notice of proposed rule making (SNPRM) about whether airlines should be required to provide medical oxygen to passengers upon request. The SNPRM will also address subjects such as accessibility of airline web sites, automated ticketing kiosks, and in flight entertainment systems.
The new rule will also provide greater accommodations for passengers with hearing impairments. It will require airlines to include easy-to-read captions for the hearing-impaired in its safety and informational videos.Airlines also must promptly provide the same information to hearing- and vision-impaired passengers that it provides to other passengers in airport terminals or on the aircraft – such as information on boarding, flight delays, schedule changes, weather conditions at the flight’s destination,connecting gate assignments, checking and claiming of baggage, and emergencies. The rule does not specify how carriers should make this information available to passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The ACAA, enacted by Congress in 1986, prohibits airlines from discriminating against disabled passengers. The Department issued its first ACAA regulations in 1990 and has amended the rules several times since then.
The new rule will be effective in one year to give carriers enough time to begin implementing its provisions. The text of the final rule is available on the Internet at www.regulations.gov, docket number DOT-OST-2004-19482.
Comments:
Comment form:
You must be logged in as a member of our website to leave a comment. Sign up now, it's free!
May 28th, 2008 at 10:46 am
On Tuesday June 3rd I’ll be attending a DOT forum in Washington DC on behalf of the Association of Blind Citizens which will review these new rules in detail. In addition, DOT is planning a SNPRM in regards to accessibility to kiosks, and in flight entertainment systems, IFE.
I have written up some comments to DOT staff as to what I think the greatest challenges are to air travelers who are blind. In addition, I’ve submitted comments on three recent TSA and DHS initiatives as they relate to people who are blind. The initiatives are Registered Traveler, Global Entry, and the new color coded TSA ski slope type lanes.
I would like to receive feedback from others as to what issues are most important. Keep in mind, however, that these DOT forumss comprise any and all disabilities. Historically it has been somewhat challenging to really spend lots of time on topics that, for instance, mainly affect the blind. However, written comments can be submitted in addition to comments made at this forum, and additional meetings may be possible between DOT staff and groups related to blindness.
The SNPRM (supplimental notice of proposed rulemaking) will be an important one. From what I have learned, there was not adequate public comment regarding the technical and cost details associated with accessible kiosks. In addition, its my sense that not that many ordinary people submitted comments about the importance of kiosk accessibility.
The issue of IFE (in flight entertainment systems) is becoming more critical. For example, passengers on upstart carrier Virgin America use the IFE system to order food, drinks, chat with others on the plane, etc. The days of simple IFE systems with two knobs are no longer with us. From what I have learned, the Virgin America IFE system is not accessible or usable by people who are blind. Furthermore, during the process when this carrier saught governmental approval to begin operations, I don’t think that disability groups like ACB or NFB were active in trying to ensure that this next generation IFE system would be usable by people who are blind. Frankly advocacy organizations should have gotten involved in the issue when Virgin America proposed to serve US markets. Our position should have been that the carrier needed to address these issues before it was fully certified by DOT to operate. In fact, the launch of this carrier was very controversial, and if necessary, advocates could have used that as a negotiating tool to ensure accessibility.
DHS is also now launching a program called Global Entry, which is essentially an international registered traveler program, and its my understanding that it will use touch screen kiosks. I have no information to suggest that these kiosks have accessibility features, but I paid my $100 and signed up so that I can test it. But again, this is an issue that I don’t know is even on the radar screens of advocacy organizations.
In conclusion, air carrier acdcessibility is an important civil rights matter, and I don’t think either as individual consumers who are blind or as advocacy organizations we are involved as much as we should be. If you don’t believe me, ask a friend who is blind if they even are aware of Virgin America’s IFE system and that you use this system to order food, drink, or chat with fellow passengers.
It seems also that advocacy organizations are very understaffed in legislative advocacy areas. There is no way that 1-2 people can keep track of, and vigorously advocate for, evry issue that faces Americans who are blind. Organizations need full departments of legislative and regulatory analysts in order to adequately cover the issues at hand both in the office, and in the coridors of power in Washington. Private industry has offices full of lobbyests advocating for their interests, which often are counter to full inclusion and universal design. The airlines, for example, would argue that accessible kiosks cost too much.
If you’d like to contact me about this, I can be reached via email at:
pyyhkala@gmail.com
I’ll file a report here after I attend the DOT forum, and after I find out first hand whether DHS’s Global Entry is accessible or not.