a man pushing a wheelchair

The US Department of Transportation announced a $50 million fine against American Airlines this morning, alleging mistreatment of passengers with disabilities that, in some cases, caused physical injury. American Airlines is calling it a mutually-agreed settlement.

DOT Fines American Airlines $50 Million For Violating Disability Laws, AA Calls It Settlement

Announced on a conference call with reporters, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg noted the fine is 25x higher than any recent DOT-issued disability fine and stretches back over a four-year period between 2019 and 2023. Per Buttigieg, during this period, American “provided unsafe and undignified physical assistance to passengers on a number of occasions that, at times, resulted in injuries.”

“They repeatedly failed to provide prompt wheelchair assistance, and they damaged thousands of passengers’ wheelchairs, which left passengers without the device they need to live their life fully.”

American Airlines characterized the fine as as a settlement and that it has taken “significant actions to improve the travel experience for customers traveling with wheelchairs and mobility devices,” including a recent investment of $175 million. Julie Rath, Senior Vice President of Airport Operations, Reservations, and Service Recovery at American, explained:

“This year, American invested over $175 million in service, infrastructure and training to improve the travel experience for customers traveling with wheelchairs or other mobility devices. Today’s agreement reaffirms American’s commitment to taking care of all of our customers.”

American credits its investments with the following:

  • Improved wheelchair and scooter handling rate by more than 20% since 2022
  • Disability-related complaint rate for wheelchair assistance services has dropped to less than 0.1% (there is less than one complaint for every 1,000 requests for wheelchair assistance)
  • Becoming the first U.S. airline to launch an automated tag for mobility devices, which ensures more accurate and consistent information for team members handling the devices and provides enhanced visibility of the devices throughout the customer travel journey
  • Adding wheelchair movers to all of its hubs and gateways and new wheelchair lifts at more than 20 airports, with five more expected to be in place by the end of 2024

More fines may be coming. Buttigieg conceded that “American Airlines appears to be one of the worst offenders,” but noted that investigations are ongoing at several carriers.

“The problems that we have uncovered in our investigation are not confined to one airline. We have other active investigations into a number of U.S. airlines for similar violations.”


image: American Airlines

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