A new report by the National Academy of Sciences, ordered by Congress, has concluded that it is technically feasible and safe for passengers in wheelchairs to fly, seated in their wheelchairs, on narrowbody jetliners. The report also found that many wheelchairs comply with the FAA's horizontal crash standards for existing aircraft seats.
The study resulted from years of complaints by wheelchair users that the airline industry and regulations too often turned air travel into a difficult, dangerous and often humiliating experience. Unlike buses and trains, the Americans with Disabilities Act does not mandate that users can travel in their own wheelchairs.
Wheelchair users, including those with power wheelchairs, have not only faced difficulty in getting on and off planes, a process that often involves a complicated transfer to a narrow 'aisle chair' and then being lifted into a seat, but also with issues of damage to wheelchairs handled in cargo spaces. In 2019, according to the Transportation Department, there were more than 10,500 cases of wheelchairs "lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered."
The study indicated that the safest way to implement wheelchair travel and attachment would be to remove two rows on the left side of the plane, just next to the boarding door. That would eliminate maneuvering through the aisles and speed up the process of boarding.
However, removing six seats in the economy section is not likely to be easily accepted by airlines, which could lose considerable revenue, and initial response by airlines has been unfavorable, using numbers that assume the seat removal would be permanent as opposed to on-demand. The NAS study suggested that additional studies of both demand and safety of specific chairs should be done.
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