The fine – 25 times bigger than any previous penalty for violating disability rules – were announced by the Transportation Department on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

 

Investigation Driven by High Number of Complaints

The action was driven by industry data and formal complaints submitted to the Transportation Department. According to administrators, American was among the worst performing carriers “in terms of both the total number of wheelchairs and scooters mishandling claims and the rate of mishandling claims.” Additional complaints were submitted by or on behalf of flyers by other organizations, including Paralyzed Veterans of America.

 

During the investigation aided by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, the Transportation Department says they uncovered a “significant number of violations,” including a case where American workers dropped a wheelchair down a baggage ramp at Miami International Airport. Although the department notes that the issues are not isolated to American, the record fine will reflect how wheelchair and disabled passenger violations will be handled in the future.

 

“The era of tolerating poor treatment of airline passengers with disabilities is over,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “With this penalty, we are setting a new standard of accountability for airlines that violate the civil rights of passengers with disabilities. By setting penalties at levels beyond a mere cost of doing business for airlines, we’re aiming to change how the industry behaves and prevent these kinds of abuses from happening in the first place.”

 

The penalty will consist of a $25 million payment to the federal government, along with $25 million towards the penalty if American invests in “equipment to reduce incidents of wheelchair damage…a systemwide wheelchair tagging system to reduce incidents of wheelchair delay, deployment of hub control center employees to coordinate wheelchair handling on a systemwide basis at large airports, and compensation for affected passengers during the timeframe covered by DOT’s investigation.” If the airline fails to make the corrective investments, the remainder of the penalty will be payable to the government.

 

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Source: frugal travel guy