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Air Travel

To refer others to this page, please use:
http://www.nad.org/airtravel

The NAD has been working with the Department of Transportation, National Council on Disabilities and other organizations to develop rules requiring accommodations for deaf and hard of hearing air travelers.

A proposal was submitted to the Department of Transportation.  A copy of the proposal can be downloaded. 

Download PDF copy of the air travel proposal (PDF).

Download NAD and DHHCAN comments (PDF) on the DOT rulemaking.

Issues being addressed include:

1. Inaccessibility of audio-visual displays.
   Passengers cannot access the information on uncaptioned televisions and audio-visual displays in airports and on planes. When captioning is provided, various formats are used and some of those are inaccessible to people with vision impairments (e.g., low contrast of text to background, small text size, etc.).
2. Accountability and enforcement.
   Passengers attempting to resolve accessibility problems during travel are often unable to get consistent information whether the airline, airport or contractor is responsible for the issue. Clear and enforceable accountability is necessary for  improving accessibility.
3. Inappropriate requirement to travel with attendant, denial of boarding.
   Qualified passengers who are deaf-blind have persistent traveling problems, including denial of boarding, due to inconsistent application of Part 382 by the airlines and lack of sensitivity and communication skills by personnel.
4. Unable to access information made available to the general public in timely manner.
   Passengers who are deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind are frequently unaware of the content of audio announcements that are not made available in accessible format at the time the general public is informed. This has resulted in missed flights, misdirected boarding (i.e., boarding wrong plane), lack of awareness of flight changes and delays, exclusion from airline bonus offers for volunteers to change to a later flight, and other inequities of service delivery.
5. Need for accessible formatting.
   When provided only in standard print without additional accommodation, Part 382 [as provided in the current 382.45(d)], safety, and informational and entertainment reading onboard the aircraft (including the airline magazines that provide flight service information and airport maps) are inaccessible to passengers who cannot utilize standard print.
6. Inability to make in-flight calls.
   Passengers unable to use voice telephones cannot use onboard phones.
7. Awareness and use of appropriate communications options.
   Technology advances options for accessible communications for passengers who are deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind. Current examples are increasing use of PDAs, text messaging and text pagers. Entities covered under Part 382 should ensure that new technologies are evaluated that can help them communicate more efficiently and effectively with passengers.
8. Inadequate employee skill level or performance.
   Despite self-identification and request for accommodation, passengers often interact with personnel who are unfamiliar with effective communication methods or do not use them, or who don’t follow up with the accommodation. Resulting communication difficulties often lead to delays, frustrations for passengers and personnel, misunderstandings, and inequity in services.
9. Communications at security checkpoints and screening techniques.
   Travelers encounter unnecessary delays during airport security screening when personnel do not know how to respond appropriately to a request for a communication accommodation, or when they are unfamiliar with disability-related equipment. NOTE: This was a Part 382 concern prior to airport security responsibility being transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, and has been deleted from the submitted Petition.

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NAD Advocacy
• Air Travel Main Page

Legal Rights
• Airport Access
• Air Travel Service Problems
• Airport Security Screening
• Air Carrier Complaints Resolution Official
• Disability Discrimination Complaints Against Air Carriers
• Hotline for Air Travelers with Disabilities