Five major airlines and an airline lobbying group have gone to court to try to overturn new rules that increased penalties for damaging or losing passengers’ mobility devices.
Elsewhere, they have asked the new administration to repeal a different set of new rules, one that requires greater transparency in quoting prices online. Both sets of regulations were developed during the Biden administration after years of advocacy by consumer and disability groups.
The suit by American, Delta, United, JetBlue and Southwest, along with Airlines for America, says that a section of the rule that defines discrimination and mandates them to pay certain fees as a result is overreaching and “unlawful.” The rule, which took effect January 16, requires better training for airline staff in handling wheelchairs, prompt repair or replacement when damage happens and reimbursement for transport or fare differences.
According to Department of Transportation statistics, an estimated 10 to 15,000 mobility devices are damaged or destroyed in air transit each year, about 1.4% of the total.
In the rule, DOT says it “considers the mishandling of wheelchairs, scooters, and assistive devices, and unsafe, undignified, and untimely wheelchair assistance, to constitute discrimination on the basis of disability,” and that the damages “impose burdens on passengers with disabilities that they do not impose on passengers without disabilities. Those actions also deny passengers full and equal access to carriers’ services.”
The airlines say the disability definition is too broad, and that it makes them responsible for issues beyond their control, including damage by extreme turbulence and flights whose operation can’t accommodate a wheelchair in cabin or cargo.
