American Airlines Fined $50M for Violating Numerous Disability Laws

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has slapped American Airlines with a $50 million fine after they found the carrier in violation of numerous laws set about to protect passengers with disabilities.

According to the report, violations occurred between 2019 and 2023, and included instances where disabled passengers were improperly treated, with some even being physically injured as a result. In other cases, the airline failed to provide wheelchair assistance, leaving the affected passengers to fend for themselves.

American also mishandled thousands of wheelchairs and related devices by damaging them or delaying their return, leaving travelers without the device they need for mobility.

According to the DOT, the penalty is 25 times larger than any previous fine against an airline for violating disability regulations.

“The era of tolerating poor treatment of airline passengers with disabilities is over,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “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 $50 million will be split into two. The carrier will be required to pay $25 million to the U.S. Treasury, but will also receive a credit for the remaining $25 million if they invest that amount into improving systems and processes regarding disability assistance.

The DOT was American to invest in equipment to reduce incidents of wheelchair damage, build out a systemwide wheelchair tagging system to reduce incidents of wheelchair delay, deploy more manpower to coordinate wheelchair needs at larger airports, and to compensate passengers who were affected by during the period highlighted by the DOT.

If the carrier fails to make these expenditures, they will be required to pay the other $25 million to the Treasury.

American Airlines has acknowledged the situation, announcing that a formal settled was reached with the DOT, and plans to continue investing more to improve the experience for customers traveling with wheelchairs and mobility devices.

“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,” said Julie Rath, Senior Vice President of Airport Operations, Reservations, and Service Recovery at American. “Today’s agreement reaffirms American’s commitment to taking care of all of our customers.”

The airline did point out that they are already seeing the benefits of these investments as they’ve reduced wheelchair and scooter damage rates by 20% since 2022, and noted that wheelchair assistance complaint rates have fallen to 0.1%. They are hoping to get that figure down to zero.

They have also been the first U.S. airline to introduce automated tagging systems to better track the movement of mobility devices, and added wheelchair movers to all its hubs and gateways.

In the separate statement, the DOT noted that American Airlines is not the only airline found to be violating disability laws, and said that other airlines are also under investigation.