Federal officials are delaying the implementation of new regulations that have been heralded as the most significant expansion of rights for airline passengers with disabilities in generations. The US Department of Transportation announced this week that it will not implement the “Wheelchair Rule” until at least August. The rule, finalized by the Biden administration in December, mandates annual training for airline employees and contractors who assist passengers with disabilities or manage wheelchairs.
Furthermore, the regulations prescribe stricter requirements for how assistance must be delivered, requiring that it be “safe and dignified,” and outline the actions airlines must take if a wheelchair is damaged or lost.
Thousands of wheelchairs and other mobility devices are damaged or lost by airlines every year. Since the end of 2018, the country’s top airlines have lost or damaged at least 15,425 wheelchairs or scooters. 10,548 wheelchairs or scooters were lost, damaged, delayed, or stolen in 2019, the first full year of reporting. That works out to about 29 each day. By 2020, it had fallen to 3,464, or 9.5 per day. Passengers reported 712 mishandled devices, or nearly eight per day, in the first quarter of 2021.
Although wheelchairs are frequently damaged by all of the major airlines, American Airlines is among the worst when it comes to the number of mishandled devices. A Transportation Department official stated that from 2019 to 2023, American Airlines had the second-highest mishandling rate and the second-highest number of reported damages per year.
The rule also makes it an automatic violation of the Air Carrier Access Act for airlines to damage or delay the return of a wheelchair or other assistive devices. Provisions of the rule were meant to go into effect in January, but earlier this year, the Trump administration delayed enforcement until at least March 20, claiming the need to “review the final rule to ensure that it is consistent with the law and administration policies.” Around the same time, many major US airlines sued over the rule, arguing that the Transportation Department exceeded its authority.
“DOT is now providing notice that it will continue to exercise its enforcement discretion and not enforce the Wheelchair Rule before August 1, 2025, to allow additional time for the officials appointed or designated by the president to review the Wheelchair Rule to ensure that it is consistent with the law, including the requirements of the 2024 FAA Act, and administration policies, and to consider the issues raised by a lawsuit filed recently to challenge certain provisions of the Wheelchair Rule,” the Transportation Department said in a notice about the change.
Disabled people should be able to take a flight safely. I am disappointed that this rule is delayed. No one should have to compromise their safety in order to fly.
Sources:
Helsel, Phil. “American Airlines Fined $50M for Violating Disability Laws.” NBC News NBCUniversal News Group, 23 Oct. 2024, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna176717.
Heasley, Shaun. “New Disability Regulations for Airlines Won’t Be Enforced.” Disability Scoop, Disability Scoop, 11 June 2025, http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2025/06/11/new-disability-regulations-for-airlines-wont-be-enforced/31491/.
Sampson, Hannah. “Airlines Have Lost or Damaged More than 15,000 Wheelchairs since Late 2018.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 8 June 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/06/07/wheelchair-scooter-damage-airplane-flights/.