American Airlines faces $50M fine for treatment of disabled passengers

American Airlines was levied with a massive fine by the Department of Transportation (DOT) over alleged breaches of airline passenger disability regulations for wheelchairs. 

The DOT said the fine American Airlines incurred as part of a consent order between the two parties amounted to $50 million. 

American Airlines is receiving credit on $25 million for “investments in equipment to reduce incidents of wheelchair damage, investments in 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,” the agency said. 

The agency’s probe into American Airlines’ wheelchair assistance and handling between 2019 and 2023 led to the penalty, the DOT said. Other airlines are also facing allegations of wheelchair mishandling and “inadequate” wheelchair assistance, according to the agency. 

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It characterized the American Airlines fine as being “25 times larger than DOT’s previous largest airline penalty for violations of disability protections.”

The DOT alleged there were instances of “unsafe physical assistance that at times resulted in injuries and undignified treatment of wheelchair users,” slow wheelchair assistance and mishandling of “thousands” of wheelchairs at American Airlines.

The consent order published by the DOT said American Airlines “strongly believes that it substantially complies with the ACAA and Part 382” and “respectfully disagrees with the Department’s interpretation of many aspects” of those regulations. The carrier did not admit any violation.

Julie Rath, American Airlines’ senior vice president of airport operations, reservations and service recovery, said in a statement that the agreement with the DOT “reaffirms American’s commitment to taking care of all of our customers,” including those with disabilities.

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“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,” she said.

Through the investment, American Airlines has added wheelchair movers and lifts and introduced automated mobility device tags, among other measures, according to the carrier. 

American Airlines takes all complaints “seriously” and “works hard to remediate them” when they arise, according to its statement.

It reported that its disability-related complaint rate for wheelchair services stands at “less than 0.1%.” Meanwhile, its mobility device handling rate has gotten over 20% better in the past two years, per the airline.

American Airlines is a major carrier, with more than 210 million people flying with the airline in 2023.

Over the first half of 2024, American Airlines has transported more than 111.95 million passengers, including nearly 59.2 million in the second quarter.