FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 7, 2001
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-5571
DOT 21-01
DOT Enforcement Office Settles With Delta Over Discrimination Against Disabled Passengers
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Aviation Enforcement Office today reached a settlement with Delta Air Lines over the carrier’s failure to stow passengers’ collapsible wheelchairs in aircraft passenger compartments as required by DOT rules.
According to the terms of the settlement, Delta will cease and desist from similar violations in the future. In addition, the carrier is assessed a civil penalty of $25,000, $10,000 of which Delta may use to help purchase at least 10 new and improved hydraulic-lift boarding chairs beyond the number Delta previously intended to purchase.
A complaint filed by a passenger boarding a Delta flight at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in March 2000 alleged that the carrier failed to store his wheelchair in the passenger cabin area, as required by the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and the department’s regulations. According to these rules, a carrier must stow the collapsible wheelchairs of disabled passengers in the cabin area whenever possible in order to make them more accessible and to minimize the likelihood of loss or damage. Instead, Delta stowed the wheelchair in the cargo hold. The passenger reported that upon arrival in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the wheelchair had been damaged and he suffered minor injuries when he attempted to use it.
Delta, which cooperated fully with the enforcement office in the investigation, responded that the incident was a result of a misunderstanding of the passenger’s wishes regarding where he wanted the wheelchair to be stowed, and that it promptly replaced the damaged wheelchair. Nevertheless, the enforcement office concluded that the incident involved a violation of the ACAA rules, and that the carrier’s failure to provide an adequate written response to the passenger’s complaint amounted to a separate violation. The enforcement office also reviewed its complaint records and discovered several other similar incidents involving wheelchair stowage issues on Delta flights, which were covered in the settlement.
The complaint, the department’s order and other documents in the case are available via the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov, docket number OST-00-7591.
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