Complaints
Airlines are supposed to provide free, prompt wheelchair assistance to passengers with disabilities between gates and while making
connections.
"All air travelers should be treated fairly when they fly, regardless of any disabilities they may have," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
During 2011 and 2012 over 300 complaints from passengers at the two airports alerted Transportation officials. Some passengers were left unattended for long periods causing missed connecting flights. It was determined that US Airways' use of electric carts and wheelchairs to carry passengers required frequent transfers and led to long delays.
Some cases involved "egregious" violations of being being taken to the wrong gate or left unattended on a plane for more than 15 minutes after other passengers got off and even being left unattended more than 30 minutes in a terminal .
Remedies
The Transportation Department announced new rules for the disabled traveler. Airport kiosks are to be made accessible when new ones are installed until at least 25% are accessible. If no new kiosks are installed, the existing ones must be made accessible within 10 years.
Airlines websites must be accessible to disabled travelers within two years, because travelers receive the cheapest fares on websites rather than by phone. Airlines must test their accessibility in consultation with groups representing visual, auditory, tactile and cognitive disabilities.
Wheelchair stowage rules require airlines to choose between stowing wheelchairs in the cabin on new aircraft or strapping them to a row of seats, to ensure that two folding chairs can be transported at a time.
Penalty
US Airways will pay the government $700,000 and agreed to spend $280,000 to improve its service by hiring managers to ensure services for passengers with disabilities, $80,000 to create a telephone line to assist passengers, $75,000 to buy tablets to monitor requests, $35,000 to compensate passengers and $30,000 to program computers so boarding passes will designate passengers needed assistance.
The airline is spending more than required to improve its service, because US Airways takes its responsibility to provide safe, reliable and convenient travel for passengers seriously according to spokesman Todd Lehmacher.
"We are investing $2 million per year in continuous enhancements to our technology, staffing and training," Lehmacher said. "This will build on the success of our recent improvements and ensure that our customers with disabilities have a positive travel experience on our airline."
Bart Jansen, USA TODAY November 4, 2013 story reported that the Transportation Department fined US Airways $1.2 million for a disability case because of its poor performance to passengers needing wheelchair assistance in Philadelphia and Charlotte. It is the largest penalty for a disability case against an commercial airlines.
