The Air Carrier Access Amendments Act of 2023

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) became law in the US in 1986. It intends to guarantee everyone with a disability nondiscriminatory treatment on domestic and foreign airlines within the US. Regulations issued in 1990 set requirements for airlines. Some deal with aircraft design, but most require nondiscriminatory practices. For example, an airline can’t deny transporting a person with a disability except under very limited circumstances. Aircraft design requirements relate to movable aisle seat armrests, accessible lavatories, and in-cabin stowage for collapsible manual wheelchairs. (The European Union has similar requirements about accessibility of air travel.)

In early 2023, Representative Dina Titus and Senator Tammy Baldwin introduced the Air Carrier Access Amendments Act of 2023 to address ongoing issues people with disabilities face during air travel. These amendments include:

• Requiring the Secretary of Transportation to set standards for accessibility of elements of air travel, including ticketing and customer service, announcements, boarding and deplaning, seating, lavatories, and stowage of assistive devices.
• Requiring airlines to comply with these standards within 5 years of their issuance.
• Requiring the Secretary of Transportation to assess civil penalties of violations of the ACAA.

The bill was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. You may wish to contact your senators and representatives to encourage them to support these vital amendments or to reintroduce the bill again in the future. To find out how to contact your lawmakers, consult the Find Your Congress Member tool.