Air Carrier Access Act: Advance Notice Requirements

Regulation effective May 13, 2009:

14 C.F.R.§ 382.25 May a carrier require a passenger with a disability to provide advance notice that he or she is traveling on a flight?

As a carrier, you must not require a passenger with a disability to provide advance notice of the fact that he or she is traveling on a flight.

14 C.F.R. § 382.27 May a carrier require a passenger with a disability to provide advance notice in order to obtain certain specific services in connection with a flight?

(a)       Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section and §§ 382.133(c)(3) and 382.133(d)(3), as a carrier you must not require a passenger with a disability to provide advance notice in order to obtain services or accommodations required by this Part.

(b)       You may require a passenger with a disability to provide up to 72 hours’ advance notice and check in one hour before the check-in time for the general public to receive carrier-supplied inflight medical oxygen on international flights, 48 hours’ advance notice and check-in one hour before the check-in time for the general public to receive carrier-supplied in-flight medical oxygen on domestic flights, and 48 hours’ advance notice and check-in one hour before the check-in time for the general public to use his/her ventilator, respirator, CPAP machine or POC.

(c)        You may require a passenger with a disability to provide up to 48 hours’ advance notice and check in one hour before the check-in time for the general public to receive the following services and accommodations. The services listed in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(3) of this section are optional; you are not required to provide them, but you may choose to do so.

(1)       Carriage of an incubator;

(2)       Hook-up for a respirator, ventilator, CPAP machine or POC to the aircraft electrical power supply;

(3)       Accommodation for a passenger who must travel in a stretcher;

(4)       Transportation for an electric wheelchair on an aircraft with fewer than 60 seats;

(5)       Provision of hazardous materials packaging for batteries or other assistive devices that are required to have such packaging;

(6)       Accommodation for a group of ten or more qualified individuals with a disability, who make reservations and travel as a group; and

(7)       Provision of an on-board wheelchair on an aircraft with more than 60 seats that does not have an accessible lavatory.

(8)       Transportation of an emotional support or psychiatric service animal in the cabin;

(9)       Transportation of a service animal on a flight segment scheduled to take 8 hours or more;

(10)     Accommodation of a passenger who has both severe vision and hearing impairments (see § 382.29(b)(4)).

(d)       If the passenger with a disability provides the advance notice you require, consistent with this section, for a service that you must provide (see paragraphs (c)(4) through (c)(10) of this section) or choose to provide (see paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(3) of this section), you must provide the requested service or accommodation.

(e)       Your reservation and other administrative systems must ensure that when passengers provide the advance notice that you require, consistent with this section, for services and accommodations, the notice is communicated, clearly and on time, to the people responsible for providing the requested service or accommodation.

(f)         If a passenger with a disability provides the advance notice you require, consistent with this section, and the passenger is forced to change to another flight (e.g., because of a flight cancellation), you must, to the maximum extent feasible, provide the accommodation on the new flight. If the new flight is another carrier’s flight, you must provide the maximum feasible assistance to the other carrier in providing the accommodation the passenger requested from you.

(g)       If a passenger does not meet advance notice or check-in requirements you establish consistent with this section, you must still provide the service or accommodation if you can do so by making reasonable efforts, without delaying the flight.

Regulation before May 13, 2009:

14 C.F.R. § 382.33 Advance notice requirements.*

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a carrier shall not require a qualified individual with a disability to provide advance notice of his or her intention to travel or of his or her disability as a condition of receiving transportation or of receiving services or accommodations required by this part.

(b) A carrier may require up to 48 hours advance notice and one-hour advance check-in concerning a qualified individual with a disability who wishes to receive any of the following services, types of equipment, or accommodations:

(1) Medical oxygen for use on board the aircraft, if this service is available on the flight;

(2) Carriage of an incubator, if this service is available on the flight;

(3) Hook-up for a respirator to the aircraft electrical power supply, if this service is available on the flight;

(4) Accommodation for a passenger who must travel in a stretcher, if this service is available on the flight;

(5) Transportation for an electric wheelchair on a flight scheduled to be made with an aircraft with fewer than 60 seats;

(6) Provision by the carrier of hazardous materials packaging for a battery for a wheelchair or other assistive device;

(7) Accommodation for a group of ten or more qualified individuals with a disability, who make reservations and travel as a group; and

(8) Provision of an on-board wheelchair on an aircraft that does not have an accessible lavatory.

(c) If a passenger does not meet advance notice or check-in requirements established by a carrier consistent with this section, the carrier shall nonetheless provide the service, equipment, or accommodation if it can do so by making a reasonable effort, without delaying the flight.

(d) Carriers' reservation and other administrative systems shall ensure that when advance notice is provided by qualified individuals with a disability as provided by this section, the notice is recorded and properly transmitted to operating employees responsible for providing the accommodation concerning which notice was provided.

(e) If the qualified individual with a disability provides the notice required by the carrier for a service under paragraph (b) of this section, the carrier shall ensure that the requested service is provided.

(f) If a qualified individual with a disability provides advance notice to a carrier, and the individual is forced to change to the flight of a different carrier because of the cancellation of the original flight or the substitution of inaccessible equipment, the first carrier shall, to the maximum extent feasible, provide assistance to the second carrier in providing the accommodation requested by the individual from the first carrier.

* Denotes Regulation will be updated effective May 13, 2009.