Are airlines and airports doing enough to accommodate travelers with disabilities?

Over the past two years, 25.6 million travelers with disabilities made a total of 76.9 million trips and spent nearly $50 billion on travel each year. When you add their traveling companions into the equation, this group spends more than $100 billion each year on travel.

This data comes from a 2024 market study by Open organizationa Chicago-based group that advocates for accessible goods and services.

Despite all that travel and spending, ODO research shows that over the past two years, more than 80% of travelers with disabilities have encountered obstacles when dealing with airlines and airports.

Issues include difficulty navigating the plane’s narrow aisles, problems hearing announcements, long distances between gates, difficulty navigating terminals, and lack of adequate seating areas fit.

And that’s not even mentioning the jarring statistics about how often airlines lose or damage medical equipment and wheelchairs.

It wasn’t until December 2018 that the U.S. Department of Transportation began requiring airlines to report the total number of scooters and wheelchairs on board as well as the total number of scooters and wheelchairs mishandled.

Now, DOT data shows that for every 100 wheelchairs or scooters transported on domestic flights, at least one is damaged, delayed or lost.

In October 2024, DOT announced American Airlines was fined $50 million for mishandling thousands of wheelchairs and failing to provide timely wheelchair assistance – along with many other “serious violations” recorded between 2019 and 2023.

“These problems are not unique to American Airlines,” the DOT said in a statement. They noted that they currently have “active investigations” into similar violations at other US airlines.

Marcela Marañon – a Dallas-based travel creator, accessibility advocate, and wheelchair user who documents her travels as a Journey of a brave woman — are familiar with many of the problems reported for travelers using wheelchairs.

“Airline wheelchair assistance staff and even some flight attendants are not properly trained on how to handle people with disabilities,” she said. “And most airplane cabins are not designed for wheelchairs. Aisles are narrow, restrooms are difficult to access, and passengers must move to aisle seats to get on and off, which can be risky and uncomfortable.”

Federal changes

New federal regulations, evolving aviation programs and advancing technology may bring improvements. As of now this year, the federal regulations are set to go into effect New protections for airline passengers using wheelchairsalthough it remains to be seen whether the government will continue this effort under the incoming Trump administration.

This change sets standards for assistance and requires hands-on training for airline employees as well as any contractors who provide physical assistance to passengers with disabilities and handle passenger wheelchairs.

For example, the rule requires airlines to provide “expedited boarding, deboarding, and connection assistance” and to return all inspected wheelchairs and other assistive devices to passengers. guests “in the condition in which they were received.”

Airlines must also inform passengers – before they get off the plane – whether their wheelchair or scooter has been unloaded from the cargo hold; they must provide suitable loaner equipment if the wheelchair or scooter is mishandled.

Airport and airline specific changes

On their own, airlines and airports have made progress in serving passengers with a variety of disabilities.

Fort Wayne International Airport (FWA) in Indiana is striving to become the most accessible airport. It combines the popular “rolled” curbs with luggage scales on the floor, benches without armrests to better accommodate travelers with mobility issues, and a tactile cane line with tiles There are ribs running from the check-in counter through the security checkpoint to the gate.

In France and 20 other countries, Air France offers a “bespoke” program called Sapphire to assist disabled travelers.

In 2023, United Airlines becomes First airline to add braille symbols on airplane seats and inside bathrooms. The entire major fleet will have Braille signage by 2026.

More than three dozen domestic airports offer it sensory room where neurodivergent travelers and their families will find furniture, interactive activities and, in some cases, real airplane cabin seats that can help ease pre-flight anxiety .

And this list continues to grow. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston opened its second sensory area in early November 2024 and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) opened its first sensory room in mid-December.

Airports are also adding hearing loops that allow deaf passengers to connect their hearing aids to the airport public address system. This helps them better hear announcements about gate changes, boarding, and other flight information.

Many airports also provide access Aira — an app that provides people who are blind or have low vision with a visual interpreter for free to help them navigate around.

Delta Air Lines’ Flight Products division is are working on seating prototypes that will allow passengers to use their own wheelchairs on the plane.

American Airlines and its subsidiary Envoy Air now offer travelers the use of autonomous, self-driving wheelchairs from Will at a growing list of international and domestic airports; the list includes Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) and Narita International Airport (NRT), Miami International Airport (MIA) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) is currently testing wheelchairs, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is using them to supplement Alaska Airlines’ traditional, non-motorized “push” wheelchair service.

Since August, more than 4,200 passengers at SEA have used self-driving wheelchairs, which drive themselves back to base after delivering passengers to the gate.

Marañon said these and other programs offered by airlines and airports show progress, but “many aspects of air travel remain problematic for people with disabilities.” disability”.

She noted that Delta Air Lines has improved its employee training on handling mobility devices and that many airports have made “commendable” progress in addressing accessibility needs . However, she would like to see airlines and airports better address ongoing damage to mobility equipment, employee training, aircraft design, service animal policies “and much more”.

Globally, air travel accessibility is also in the spotlight. It was recently the subject of a symposium organized by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Airports Council International and the International Air Transport Association.

“It is no secret that accessibility poses challenges for a significant number of our passengers with disabilities,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh. The goal is to “Link different approaches into a global reality that will deliver to visitors without disappointing.”

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