[Millions 2005$]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Total                     Total
                                                                carrier    Net carrier    carrier    Net carrier
                                                 Total costs    benefits     benefits     benefits     benefits
                                                     ($M)       high MC      high MC    low MC case  low MC case
                                                               case ($M)    case ($M)       ($M)         ($M)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low Impact Case:
    Present Value over 20 years................         97.2        449.8        352.6        719.7        622.5
    Year 20 undiscounted.......................         15.9         76.3         60.4        122.2        106.3
High Impact Case:
    Present Value over 20 years................        194.4        899.6        705.2      1,439.4      1,245.0
    Year 20 undiscounted.......................         31.8        152.7        120.9        244.3        212.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 Table D.--Aggregate Cost and Benefit Estimates
                                                [Millions 2005$]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Total                     Total
                                                                carrier    Net carrier    carrier    Net carrier
                                                 Total costs    benefits     benefits     benefits     benefits
                                                     ($M)       high MC      high MC    low MC case  low MC case
                                                               case ($M)    case ($M)       ($M)         ($M)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low Impact Case:
    Present Value over 20 years................        350.1        671.9        321.8      1,075.1        724.9
    Year 20 undiscounted.......................         57.9        128.5         70.6        205.6        147.6
High Impact Case:
    Present Value over 20 years................        698.0      1,343.9        645.9      2,150.2      1,452.2
    Year 20 undiscounted.......................        115.7        256.9        141.2        411.1        295.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires an
agency to review regulations to assess their impact on small entities
unless the agency determines that a rule is not expected to have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
A direct air carrier or a foreign carrier is a small business if it
provides air transportation only with small aircraft (i.e., aircraft
with up to 60 seats/18,000 pound payload capacity). See 14 CFR 399.73.
Our analysis identified 338 small businesses potentially affected by
the requirements of the final rule.
    We project that about 30 small foreign carriers would incur costs
related to boarding equipment (small U.S. carriers already are subject
to this requirement). These costs represent a total present value
ranging from $1.161 million to $2.245 million, or from $39,000 to
$75,000 per carrier, almost entirely in the first two years. When more
than one small carrier uses the same airport, however, a sharing
arrangement may be more efficient. The affected airlines are, it should
be noted, the larger small carriers, those which use aircraft with more
than 19 seats and which serve a greater number of airports.
    Both small U.S. and small foreign carriers would incur costs
related to training. We project that U.S. carriers would need to
provide two hours of training to each of their employees with respect
to new requirements concerning oxygen and deaf and hard-of-hearing
passengers. On this assumption, the present value of training costs
would be $2.6 million or $7,738 for each of the 338 carriers affected
by the rule.
    Our analysis estimates that training costs for foreign carriers
would amount to a present value of $0.8 million to $1.6 million over 20
years. Assuming the number of carriers affected to be 30, the cost
would be $27,000 to $54,000 per carrier.
    With small carriers handling 2.8 percent of the estimated medical
oxygen reservations at a cost of $25 each, we would project small
carrier costs as being a total present value of $5.4 million, or
$16,000 per carrier. This figure is probably overstated, because many
small carriers are affiliated with larger airlines that process
reservations for them.
    Following the line of argument adopted throughout Department's
overall regulatory evaluation, these costs should be offset by an
expected

increase in the number of PWDs willing and able to fly on small
carriers.
    We note that, while we have examined the effects of the rule on
small foreign as well as small U.S. carriers, the Regulatory
Flexibility Act does not apply to foreign entities. On the basis of
this examination, the Department certifies that this rule will not have
a significant economic impact on a significant number of small
entities.
    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires an
agency to review regulations to assess their impact on small entities
unless the agency determines that a rule is not expected to have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
A direct air carrier or a foreign carrier is a small business if it
provides air transportation only with small aircraft (i.e., aircraft
with up to 60 seats/18,000 pound payload capacity). See 14 CFR 399.73.
Our analyses identified 338 small businesses potentially affected by
the requirements of the final rule.
    We project that about 30 small foreign carriers would incur costs
related to boarding equipment (small U.S. carriers already are subject
to this requirement). These costs represent a total present value
ranging from $1.161 million to $2.245 million, or from $39,000 to
$75,000 per carrier, almost entirely in the first two years. mall
carrier use the same airport, however, a sharing arrangement may be
more efficient. The affected airlines are, it should be noted, the
larger small carriers, those which use aircraft with more than 19 seats
and which serve a greater number of airports.
    Both small U.S. and small foreign carriers would incur costs
related to training. We project that U.S. carriers would need to train
their employees two hours each with respect to new requirements
concerning oxygen and deaf and hard-of-hearing passengers. On this
assumption, the a present value of training costs would be $2.6 million
or $7,738 for each carrier involved.
    Our analysis estimates that training costs for foreign carriers
would amount to a present value of $0.8 million to $1.6 million over 20
years. Assuming the number of carriers affected to be 30, the cost for
each would be $27,000 to $54,000 per carrier.
    With small carriers handling 2.8 percent of the estimated medical
oxygen reservations at a cost of $25 each, we would project small
carrier costs as being a total present value of $5.4 million, or
$16,000 per carrier. This figure is probably overstated, because many
small carriers are affiliated with larger airlines that process
reservations for them.
    Following the line of argument adopted throughout Department's
overall regulatory evaluation, these costs should be offset by an
expected increase in the number of PWDs willing and able to fly on
small carriers.
    We note that, while we have examined the effects of the rule on
small foreign as well as small U.S. carriers, the Regulatory
Flexibility Act does not apply to foreign entities. On the basis of
this examination, the Department certifies that this rule will not have
a significant economic impact on a significant number of small
entities.

C. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    This final rule has been analyzed in accordance with the principles
and criteria contained in Executive Order 13132 (``Federalism''). This
final rule does not include any provision that: (1) Has substantial
direct effects on the States, the relationship between the national
government and the States, or the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government; (2) imposes
substantial direct compliance costs on State and local governments; or
(3) preempts state law. Therefore, the consultation and funding
requirements of Executive Order 13132 do not apply.

D. Executive Order 13084

    This final rule has been analyzed in accordance with the principles
and criteria contained in Executive Order 13084 (``Consultation and
Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments''). Because this final rule
does not significantly or uniquely affect the communities of the Indian
tribal governments and does not impose substantial direct compliance
costs on them, the funding and consultation requirements of Executive
Order 13084 do not apply.

E. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The final rule does contain a new information collection
requirement that requires approval by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 2507 et.
seq.). Specifically, section 382.145 includes record retention
requirements for information concerning training. The Department will
pursue OMB approval for this requirement during the year between the
publication and effective dates of the rule.
    Section 382.157 involves disability-related complaint reporting to
the Department. This provision is identical to a provision of the
existing Part 382, and it is subject to an existing Paperwork Reduction
Act approval by OMB. No further approvals are needed for this section
at the present time.

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    The Department has determined that the requirements of Title II of
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 do not apply to this
rulemaking.

    Issued this 28th Day of April, 2008, at Washington, DC.
Mary E. Peters,
Secretary of Transportation.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 382

    Air carriers, Consumer protection, Individuals with disabilities,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Department revises 14
CFR part 382 to read as follows:

PART 382--NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY IN AIR
TRAVEL

Sec.
Subpart A--General Provisions
382.1 What is the purpose of this Part?
382.3 What do the terms in this rule mean?
382.5 When are foreign carriers required to begin complying with the
provisions of this Part?
382.7 To whom do the provisions of this Part apply?
382.9 What may foreign carriers do if they believe a provision of a
foreign nation's law prohibits compliance with a provision of this
Part?
382.10 How does a carrier obtain a determination that it is
providing an equivalent alternative to passengers with disabilities?
Subpart B--Nondiscrimination and Access to Services and Information
382.11 What is the general nondiscrimination requirement of this
Part?
382.13 Do carriers have to modify policies, practices, and
facilities to ensure nondiscrimination?
382.15 Do carriers have to make sure that contractors comply with
the requirements of this Part?
382.17 May carriers limit the number of passengers with a disability
on a flight?
382.19 May carriers refuse to provide transportation on the basis of
disability?
382.21 May carriers limit access to transportation on the basis that
a passenger has a communicable disease or other medical condition?
382.23 May carriers require a passenger with a disability to provide
a medical certificate?
382.25 May a carrier require a passenger with a disability to
provide advance notice that he or she is traveling on a flight?
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?

382.29 May a carrier require a passenger with a disability to travel
with a safety assistant?
382.31 May carriers impose special charges on passengers with a
disability for providing services and accommodations required by
this rule?
382.33 May carriers impose other restrictions on passengers with a
disability that they do not impose on other passengers?
382.35 May carriers require passengers with a disability to sign
waivers or releases?
Subpart C--Information for Passengers
382.41 What flight-related information must carriers provide to
qualified individuals with a disability?
382.43 Must information and reservation services of carriers be
accessible to individuals with hearing and vision impairments?
382.45 Must carriers make copies of this Part available to
passengers?
Subpart D--Accessibility of Airport Facilities
382.51 What requirements must carriers meet concerning the
accessibility of airport facilities?
382.53 What accommodations are required in airports for individuals
with a vision impairment and individuals who are deaf or hard-of-
hearing?
382.55 May carriers impose security screening procedures with
passengers with disabilities that go beyond TSA requirements or
those of foreign governments?
382.57 What services must carriers provide if their automated kiosks
are inaccessible?
Subpart E--Accessibility of Aircraft
382.61 What are the requirements for movable aisle armrests?
382.63 What are the requirements for accessible lavatories?
382.65 What are the requirements concerning on-board wheelchairs?
382.67 What is the requirement for priority space in the cabin to
store passenger wheelchairs?
382.69 What requirements must carriers meet concerning the
accessibility of videos, DVDs, and other audio-visual presentations
shown on aircraft to individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing?
382.71 What other aircraft accessibility requirements apply to
carriers?
Subpart F--Seating Accommodations
382.81 For which passengers must carriers make seating
accommodations?
382.83 Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating
accommodations?
382.85 What seating accommodations must carriers make to passengers
in circumstances not covered by 382.81 (a)--(d)?
382.87 What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers
with a disability?
Subpart G--Boarding, Deplaning, and Connecting Assistance
382.91 What assistance must carriers provide to passengers with a
disability in moving within the terminal?
382.93 Must carriers offer preboarding to passengers with a
disability?
382.95 What are carriers' general obligations with respect to
boarding and deplaning assistance?
382.97 To which aircraft does the requirement to provide boarding
and deplaning assistance through the use of lifts apply?
382.99 What agreements must carriers have with the airports they
serve?
382.101 What other boarding and deplaning assistance must carriers
provide?
382.103 May a carrier leave a passenger unattended in a wheelchair
or other device?
382.105 What is the responsibility of carriers at foreign airports
at which airport operators have responsibility for enplaning,
deplaning, and connecting assistance?
Subpart H--Services on Aircraft
382.111 What services must carriers provide to passengers with a
disability on board the aircraft?
382.113 What services are carriers not required to provide to
passengers with a disability on board the aircraft?
382.115 What requirements apply to on-board safety briefings?
382.117 Must carriers permit passengers with a disability to travel
with service animals?
382.119 What information must carriers give individuals with vision
or hearing impairment on aircraft?
Subpart I--Stowage of Wheelchairs, Other Mobility Aids, and Other
Assistive Devices
382.121 What mobility aids and other assistive devices may
passengers with a disability bring into the aircraft cabin?
382.123 What are the requirements concerning priority cabin stowage
space for wheelchairs and other assistive devices?
382.125 What procedures do carriers follow when wheelchairs, other
mobility aids, and other assistive devices must be stowed in the
cargo compartment?
382.127 What procedures apply to stowage of battery-powered mobility
aids?
382.129 What other requirements apply when passengers' wheelchairs,
other mobility aids, and other assistive devices must be
disassembled for stowage?
382.131 Do baggage liability limits apply to mobility aids and other
assistive devices?
382.133 What are the requirements concerning the evaluation and use
of passenger-supplied electronic devices that assist passengers with
respiration in the cabin during flight?
Subpart J--Training and Administrative Provisions
382.141 What training are carriers required to provide for their
personnel?
382.143 When must carriers complete training for their personnel?
382.145 What records concerning training must carriers retain?
Subpart K--Complaints and Enforcement Procedures
382.151 What are the requirements for providing Complaints
Resolution Officials?
382.153 What actions do CROs take on complaints?
382.155 How must carriers respond to written complaints?
382.157 What are carriers' obligations for recordkeeping and
reporting on disability-related complaints?
382.159 How are complaints filed with DOT?
Appendix A to Part 382--Disability Complaint Reporting Form
Appendix B to Part 382--Cross-Reference Table

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 41705.

Subpart A--General Provisions

Sec.  382.1  What is the purpose of this Part?

    The purpose of this Part is to carry out the Air Carrier Access Act
of 1986, as amended. This rule prohibits both U.S. and foreign carriers
from discriminating against passengers on the basis of disability;
requires carriers to make aircraft, other facilities, and services
accessible; and requires carriers to take steps to accommodate
passengers with a disability.

Sec.  382.3  What do the terms in this rule mean?

    In this regulation, the terms listed in this section have the
following meanings:
    Air Carrier Access Act or ACAA means the Air Carrier Access Act of
1986, as amended, the statute that provides the principal authority for
this Part.
    Air transportation means interstate or foreign air transportation,
or the transportation of mail by aircraft, as defined in 49 U.S.C.
40102.
    Assistive device means any piece of equipment that assists a
passenger with a disability to cope with the effects of his or her
disability. Such devices are intended to assist a passenger with a
disability to hear, see, communicate, maneuver, or perform other
functions of daily life, and may include medical devices and
medications.
    Battery-powered mobility aid means an assistive device that is used
by individuals with mobility impairments such a wheelchair, a scooter,
or a Segway when it is used as a mobility device by a person with a
mobility-related disability.
    Carrier means a U.S. citizen (``U.S. carrier'') or foreign citizen
(``foreign carrier'') that undertakes, directly or indirectly, or by a
lease or any other

arrangement, to engage in air transportation.
    Commuter carrier means an air taxi operator as defined in 14 CFR
part 298 that carries passengers on at least 5 round trips per week on
at least one route between two or more points according to its
published flight schedules that specify the times, days of the week and
places between which those flights are performed.
    CPAP machine means a continuous positive airway pressure machine.
    Department or DOT means the United States Department of
Transportation.
    Direct threat means a significant risk to the health or safety of
others that cannot be eliminated by a modification of policies,
practices, or procedures, or by the provision of auxiliary aids or
services.
    Equivalent alternative means a policy, practice, or other
accommodation that provides substantially equivalent accessibility to
passengers with disabilities, compared to compliance with a provision
of this Part.
    Expected maximum flight duration means the carrier's best estimate
of the total duration of the flight from departure gate to arrival
gate, including taxi time to and from the terminals, based on the
scheduled flight time and factors such as (a) wind and other weather
conditions forecast; (b) anticipated traffic delays; (c) one instrument
approach and possible missed approach at destination; and (d) any other
conditions that may delay arrival of the aircraft at the destination
gate.
    FAA means the Federal Aviation Administration, an operating
administration of the Department of Transportation.
    Facility means a carrier's aircraft and any portion of an airport
that a carrier owns, leases, or controls (e.g., structures, roads,
walks, parking lots, ticketing areas, baggage drop-off and retrieval
sites, gates, other boarding locations, loading bridges) normally used
by passengers or other members of the public.
    High-contrast captioning means captioning that is at least as easy
to read as white letters on a consistent black background.
    Indirect carrier means a person not directly involved in the
operation of an aircraft who sells air transportation services to the
general public other than as an authorized agent of a carrier.
    Individual with a disability means any individual who has a
physical or mental impairment that, on a permanent or temporary basis,
substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of
such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. As
used in this definition, the phrase:
    (a) Physical or mental impairment means:
    (1) Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic
disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the
following body systems: neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense
organs, respiratory including speech organs, cardio-vascular,
reproductive, digestive, genito-urinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin, and
endocrine; or
    (2) Any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental
retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and
specific learning disabilities.
    The term physical or mental impairment includes, but is not limited
to, such diseases and conditions as orthopedic, visual, speech, and
hearing impairments; cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy,
multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental
retardation, emotional illness, drug addiction, and alcoholism.
    (b) Major life activities means functions such as caring for one's
self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking,
breathing, learning, and working.
    (c) Has a record of such impairment means has a history of, or has
been classified, or misclassified, as having a mental or physical
impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
    (d) Is regarded as having an impairment means:
    (1) Has a physical or mental impairment that does not substantially
limit major life activities but that is treated by an air carrier as
constituting such a limitation;
    (2) Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a
major life activity only as a result of the attitudes of others toward
such an impairment; or
    (3) Has none of the impairments set forth in this definition but is
treated by an air carrier as having such an impairment.
    On-demand air taxi means an air taxi operator that carries
passengers or property and is not a commuter carrier as defined in this
section.
    PHMSA means the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration, an operating administration of the Department of
Transportation.
    POC means portable oxygen concentrator.
    Qualified individual with a disability means an individual with a
disability--
    (a) Who, as a passenger (referred to as a ``passenger with a
disability''),
    (1) With respect to obtaining a ticket for air transportation on a
carrier, offers, or makes a good faith attempt to offer, to purchase or
otherwise validly to obtain such a ticket;
    (2) With respect to obtaining air transportation, or other services
or accommodations required by this Part,
    (i) Buys or otherwise validly obtains, or makes a good faith effort
to obtain, a ticket for air transportation on a carrier and presents
himself or herself at the airport for the purpose of traveling on the
flight to which the ticket pertains; and
    (ii) Meets reasonable, nondiscriminatory contract of carriage
requirements applicable to all passengers; or
    (b) Who, with respect to accompanying or meeting a traveler, using
ground transportation, using terminal facilities, or obtaining
information about schedules, fares, reservations, or policies, takes
those actions necessary to use facilities or services offered by an air
carrier to the general public, with reasonable accommodations, as
needed, provided by the carrier.
    Scheduled service means any flight scheduled in the current edition
of the Official Airline Guide, the carrier's published schedule, or the
computer reservation system used by the carrier.
    TSA means the Transportation Security Administration, an agency of
the Department of Homeland Security.
    United States or U.S. means the United States of America, including
its territories and possessions.

Sec.  382.5  When are U.S. and foreign carriers required to begin
complying with the provisions of this Part?

    As a U.S. or foreign carrier, you are required to comply with the
requirements of this Part on May 13, 2009, except as otherwise provided
in individual sections of this Part.

Sec.  382.7  To whom do the provisions of this Part apply?

    (a) If you are a U.S. carrier, this Part applies to you with
respect to all your operations and aircraft, regardless of where your
operations take place, except as otherwise provided in this Part.
    (b) If you are a foreign carrier, this Part applies to you only
with respect to flights you operate that begin or end at a U.S. airport
and to aircraft used for these flights. For purposes of this Part, a
``flight'' means a continuous journey in the same aircraft or with one
flight number that begins or ends at a U.S.

airport. The following are some examples of the application of this
term:

    Example 1 to paragraph (b): A passenger books a nonstop flight
on a foreign carrier from New York to Frankfurt, or Frankfurt to New
York. Each of these is a ``flight'' for purposes of this Part.
    Example 2 to paragraph (b): A passenger books a journey on a
foreign carrier from New York to Prague. The foreign carrier flies
nonstop to Frankfurt. The passenger gets off the plane in Frankfurt
and boards a connecting flight (with a different flight number), on
the same foreign carrier or a different carrier, which goes to
Prague. The New York-Frankfurt leg of the journey is a ``flight''
for purposes of this Part; the Frankfurt-Prague leg is not. On the
reverse routing, the Prague-Frankfurt leg is not a covered flight
for purposes of this Part, while the Frankfurt-New York leg is.
    Example 3 to paragraph (b): A passenger books a journey on a
foreign carrier from New York to Prague. The plane stops for
refueling and a crew change in Frankfurt. If, after deplaning in
Frankfurt, the passengers originating in New York reboard the
aircraft (or a different aircraft, assuming the flight number
remains the same) and continue to Prague, they remain on a covered
flight for purposes of this Part. This is because their
transportation takes place on a direct flight between New York and
Prague, even though it had an interim stop in Frankfurt. This
example would also apply in the opposite direction (Prague to New
York via Frankfurt).
    Example 4 to paragraph (b): In Example 3, the foreign carrier is
not subject to coverage under this Part with respect to a Frankfurt-
originating passenger who boards the aircraft and goes to Prague, or
a Prague-originating passenger who gets off the plane in Frankfurt
and does not continue to New York.

    (c) As a foreign carrier, you are not subject to the requirements
of this Part with respect to operations between two foreign points,
even with respect to flights involving code-sharing arrangements with
U.S. carriers. As a U.S. carrier that participates in a code-sharing
arrangement with a foreign carrier with respect to operations between
two foreign points, you (as distinct from the foreign carrier) are
responsible for ensuring compliance with the service provisions of
subparts A through C, F through H, and K with respect to passengers
traveling under your code on such a flight.

    Example 1 to paragraph (c): A passenger buys a ticket from a
U.S. carrier for a journey from New York to Prague. The ticket
carries the U.S. carrier's code and flight number throughout the
entire journey. There is a change of carrier and aircraft in
Frankfurt, and a foreign carrier operates the Frankfurt-Prague
segment. The foreign carrier is not subject to the provisions of
Part 382 for the Frankfurt-Prague segment. However, the U.S. carrier
must ensure compliance with the applicable provisions of Part 382 on
the Frankfurt-Prague segment with respect to passengers flying under
its code, and the Department could take enforcement action against
the U.S. carrier for acts or omissions by the foreign carrier.

    (d) As a foreign carrier, if you operate a charter flight from a
foreign airport to a U.S. airport, and return to a foreign airport, and
you do not pick up any passengers in the U.S., the charter operation is
not a flight subject to the requirements of this Part.
    (e) Unless a provision of this Part specifies application to a U.S.
carrier or a foreign carrier, the provision applies to both U.S. and
foreign carriers.
    (f) If you are an indirect carrier, Sec. Sec.  382.17 through
382.157 of this Part do not apply, except insofar as Sec.  382.11(b)
applies to you.
    (g) Notwithstanding any provisions of this Part, you must comply
with all FAA safety regulations, TSA security regulations, and foreign
safety and security regulations having legally mandatory effect that
apply to you.

Sec.  382.9  What may foreign carriers do if they believe a provision
of a foreign nation's law conflicts with compliance with a provision of
this Part?

    (a) If you are a foreign carrier, and you believe that an
applicable provision of the law of a foreign nation precludes you from
complying with a provision of this Part, you may request a waiver of
the provision of this Part.
    (b) You must send such a waiver request to the following address:
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, C-
70 U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room
W96-322, Washington, DC 20590.
    (c) Your waiver request must be in English and include the
following elements:
    (1) A copy, in the English language, of the foreign law involved;
    (2) A description of how the foreign law applies and how it
precludes compliance with a provision of this Part;
    (3) A description of the alternative means the carrier will use, if
the waiver is granted, to effectively achieve the objective of the
provision of this Part subject to the waiver or, if applicable, a
justification of why it would be impossible to achieve this objective
in any way.
    (d) The Department may grant the waiver request, or grant the
waiver request subject to conditions, if it determines that the foreign
law applies, that it does preclude compliance with a provision of this
Part, and that the carrier has provided an effective alternative means
of achieving the objective of the provisions of this Part subject to
the waiver or have demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that
it would be impossible to achieve this objective in any way.
    (e) (1) If you submit a waiver request on or before September 10,
2008, the Department will, to the maximum extent feasible, respond to
the request before May 13, 2009. If the Department does not respond to
the waiver request by May 13, 2009, you may continue to implement the
policy or practice that is the subject of your request until the
Department does respond. The Department will not take enforcement
action with respect to your implementation of the policy or practice
during the time prior to the Department's response.
    (2) If you submit a waiver request after September 10, 2008, the
Department will, to the maximum extent feasible, respond to the request
by May 13, 2009 or within 180 days of receiving it, whichever is later.
If the Department does not respond to the waiver request by this date,
you may continue to implement the policy or practice that is the
subject of your request until the Department does respond. However, the
Department may take enforcement action with respect to your
implementation of the policy or practice during the time between May
13, 2009 and the date of the Department's response.
    (3) If you submit a waiver request after September 10, 2008, and
the request pertains to an applicable provision of the law of a foreign
nation that did not exist on September 10, 2008, you may continue to
implement the policy or practice that is the subject of your request
until the Department responds to the request. The Department will, to
the maximum extent feasible, respond to such requests within 180 days
of receiving them. The Department will not take enforcement action with
respect to your implementation of the policy or practice during the
time prior to the Department's response.
    (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
Department may commence enforcement action at any time after May 13,
2009 with respect to the policy or practice that is the subject of the
request if it finds the request to be frivolous or dilatory.
    (g) If you have not submitted a request for a waiver under this
section with respect to a provision of this Part, or such a request has
been denied, you cannot raise the alleged existence of such a conflict
as a defense to an enforcement action.

Sec.  382.10  How does a U.S. or foreign carrier obtain a determination
that it is providing an equivalent alternative to passengers with
disabilities?

    (a) As a U.S. or foreign carrier, you may apply to the Department
for a determination that you are providing an equivalent alternative to
passengers with disabilities.
    (b) You must send your application for an equivalent alternative
determination to the following address: Assistant General Counsel for
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70), U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W96-322, Washington,
DC 20590.
    (c) Your application must be in English and include the following
elements:
    (1) A citation to the specific provision of this Part concerning
which you are proposing an equivalent alternative.
    (2) A detailed description of the alternative policy, practice, or
other accommodation you are proposing to use in place of compliance
with the provision of this Part that you cite, and an explanation of
how it provides substantially equivalent accessibility to passengers
with disabilities.
    (d) The Department may grant the application, or grant the
application subject to conditions, if it determines that the proposed
facilitation does provide substantially equivalent accessibility to
passengers with disabilities, compared to compliance with the provision
of this Part in question.
    (e) If your application is granted, you will be deemed to be in
compliance with this Part through implementing the equivalent
alternative. If your application is denied, you must implement this
Part as written.
    (f)(1) If you submit your application on or before September 10,
2008, the Department will respond to the request before May 13, 2009 to
the maximum extent feasible. If the Department does not respond to the
application by May 13, 2009, you may implement your policy or practice
that is the subject of your application until the Department does
respond.
    (2) With respect to an application you make after September 10,
2008, you must comply with the provisions of this Part without change
from May 13, 2009 until the Department responds to your application.

Subpart B--Nondiscrimination and Access to Services

Sec.  382.11  What is the general nondiscrimination requirement of this
Part?

    (a) As a carrier, you must not do any of the following things,
either directly or through a contractual, licensing, or other
arrangement:
    (1) You must not discriminate against any qualified individual with
a disability, by reason of such disability, in the provision of air
transportation;
    (2) You must not require a qualified individual with a disability
to accept special services (including, but not limited to, preboarding)
that the individual does not request. However, you may require
preboarding as a condition of receiving certain seating or in-cabin
stowage accommodations, as specified in Sec. Sec.  382.83(c),
382.85(b), and 382.123(a) of this Part.
    (3) You must not exclude a qualified individual with a disability
from or deny the person the benefit of any air transportation or
related services that are available to other persons, except where
specifically permitted by this Part. This is true even if there are
separate or different services available for individuals with a
disability, except when specifically permitted by another section of
this Part; and
    (4) You must not take any adverse action against an individual
(e.g. refusing to provide transportation) because the individual
asserts, on his or her own behalf or through or on behalf of others,
rights protected by this Part or the Air Carrier Access Act.
    (b) If, as an indirect carrier, you provide facilities or services
for other carriers that are covered by sections 382.17 through 382.157,
you must do so in a manner consistent with those sections.

Sec.  382.13  Do carriers have to modify policies, practices, and
facilities to ensure nondiscrimination?

    (a) As a carrier, you must modify your policies, practices, and
facilities when needed to provide nondiscriminatory service to a
particular individual with a disability, consistent with the standards
of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended.
    (b) This requirement is part of your general nondiscrimination
obligation, and is in addition to your duty to make the specific
accommodations required by this Part.
    (c) However, you are not required to make modifications that would
constitute an undue burden or would fundamentally alter your program.

Sec.  382.15  Do carriers have to make sure that contractors comply
with the requirements of this Part?

    (a) As a carrier, you must make sure that your contractors that
provide services to the public (including airports where applicable)
meet the requirements of this Part that would apply to you if you
provided the services yourself.
    (b) As a carrier, you must include an assurance of compliance with
this Part in your contracts with any contractors that provide services
to the public that are subject to the requirements of this Part.
Noncompliance with this assurance is a material breach of the contract
on the contractor's part.
    (1) This assurance must commit the contractor to compliance with
all applicable provisions of this Part in activities performed on
behalf of the carrier.
    (2) The assurance must also commit the contractor to implementing
directives issued by your CROs under Sec. Sec.  382.151 through
382.153.
    (c) As a U.S. carrier, you must also include such an assurance of
compliance in your contracts or agreements of appointment with U.S.
travel agents. You are not required to include such an assurance in
contracts with foreign travel agents.
    (d) You remain responsible for your contractors' compliance with
this Part and for enforcing the assurances in your contracts with them.
    (e) It is not a defense against an enforcement action by the
Department under this Part that your noncompliance resulted from action
or inaction by a contractor.

Sec.  382.17  May carriers limit the number of passengers with a
disability on a flight?

    As a carrier, you must not limit the number of passengers with a
disability who travel on a flight. (See also Sec.  382.27(b)(6) of this
Part.)

Sec.  382.19  May carriers refuse to provide transportation on the
basis of disability?

    (a) As a carrier, you must not refuse to provide transportation to
a passenger with a disability on the basis of his or her disability,
except as specifically permitted by this Part.
    (b) You must not refuse to provide transportation to a passenger
with a disability because the person's disability results in appearance
or involuntary behavior that may offend, annoy, or inconvenience
crewmembers or other passengers.
    (c) You may refuse to provide transportation to any passenger on
the basis of safety, as provided in 49 U.S.C. 44902 or 14 CFR 121.533,
or to any passenger whose carriage would violate FAA or TSA
requirements or applicable requirements of a foreign government.
    (1) You can determine that there is a disability-related safety
basis for refusing to provide transportation to a passenger with a
disability if you are able to demonstrate that the passenger

poses a direct threat (see definition in Sec.  382.3). In determining
whether an individual poses a direct threat, you must make an
individualized assessment, based on reasonable judgment that relies on
current medical knowledge or on the best available objective evidence,
to ascertain:
    (i) The nature, duration, and severity of the risk;
    (ii) The probability that the potential harm to the health and
safety of others will actually occur; and
    (iii) Whether reasonable modifications of policies, practices, or
procedures will mitigate the risk.
    (2) If you determine that the passenger does pose a direct threat,
you must select the least restrictive response from the point of view
of the passenger, consistent with protecting the health and safety of
others. For example, you must not refuse transportation to the
passenger if you can protect the health and safety of others by means
short of a refusal.
    (3) In exercising this authority, you must not act inconsistently
with the provisions of this Part.
    (4) If your actions are inconsistent with any of the provisions of
this Part, you are subject to enforcement action under Subpart K of
this Part.
    (d) If you refuse to provide transportation to a passenger on his
or her originally-scheduled flight on a basis relating to the
individual's disability, you must provide to the person a written
statement of the reason for the refusal. This statement must include
the specific basis for the carrier's opinion that the refusal meets the
standards of paragraph (c) of this section or is otherwise specifically
permitted by this Part. You must provide this written statement to the
person within 10 calendar days of the refusal of transportation.

Sec.  382.21  May carriers limit access to transportation on the basis
that a passenger has a communicable disease or other medical condition?

    (a) You must not do any of the following things on the basis that a
passenger has a communicable disease or infection, unless you determine
that the passenger's condition poses a direct threat:
    (1) Refuse to provide transportation to the passenger;
    (2) Delay the passenger's transportation (e.g., require the
passenger to take a later flight);
    (3) Impose on the passenger any condition, restriction, or
requirement not imposed on other passengers; or
    (4) Require the passenger to provide a medical certificate.
    (b) In assessing whether the passenger's condition poses a direct
threat, you must apply the provisions of Sec.  382.19(c)(1)-(2) of this
subpart.
    (1) In making this assessment, you may rely on directives issued by
public health authorities (e.g., the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
or Public Health Service; comparable agencies in other countries; the
World Health Organization).
    (2) In making this assessment, you must consider the significance
of the consequences of a communicable disease and the degree to which
it can be readily transmitted by casual contact in an aircraft cabin
environment.

    Example 1 to Paragraph (b)(2): The common cold is readily
transmissible in an aircraft cabin environment but does not have
severe health consequences. Someone with a cold would not pose a
direct threat.
    Example 2 to Paragraph (b)(2): AIDS has very severe health
consequences but is not readily transmissible in an aircraft cabin
environment. Someone would not pose a direct threat because he or
she is HIV-positive or has AIDS.
    Example 3 to Paragraph (b)(2): SARS may be readily transmissible
in an aircraft cabin environment and has severe health consequences.
Someone with SARS probably poses a direct threat.

    (c) If a passenger with a communicable disease meeting the direct
threat criteria of this section gives you a medical certificate of the
kind outlined in Sec.  382.23(c)(2) describing measures for preventing
transmission of the disease during the normal course of the flight, you
must provide transportation to the passenger, unless you are unable to
carry out the measures.
    (d) If your action under this section results in the postponement
of a passenger's travel, you must permit the passenger to travel at a
later time (up to 90 days from the date of the postponed travel) at the
fare that would have applied to the passenger's originally scheduled
trip without penalty or, at the passenger's discretion, provide a
refund for any unused flights, including return flights.
    (e) If you take any action under this section that restricts a
passenger's travel, you must, on the passenger's request, provide a
written explanation within 10 days of the request.

Sec.  382.23  May carriers require a passenger with a disability to
provide a medical certificate?

    (a) Except as provided in this section, you must not require a
passenger with a disability to have a medical certificate as a
condition for being provided transportation.
    (b)(1) You may require a medical certificate for a passenger with a
disability--
    (i) Who is traveling in a stretcher or incubator;
    (ii) Who needs medical oxygen during a flight; or
    (iii) Whose medical condition is such that there is reasonable
doubt that the individual can complete the flight safely, without
requiring extraordinary medical assistance during the flight.
    (2) For purposes of this paragraph, a medical certificate is a
written statement from the passenger's physician saying that the
passenger is capable of completing the flight safely, without requiring
extraordinary medical assistance during the flight.
    (3) To be valid, a medical certificate under this paragraph must be
dated within 10 days of the scheduled date of the passenger's initial
departing flight.

    Example to paragraph (b)(3): A passenger who schedules a flight
from New York to London on January 15 with a return on April 15
would have to show a medical certificate dated January 5 or later.
The passenger would not have to show a second medical certificate
dated April 5 or later.

    (c)(1) You may also require a medical certificate for a passenger
if he or she has a communicable disease or condition that could pose a
direct threat to the health or safety of others on the flight.
    (2) For purposes of this paragraph, a medical certificate is a
written statement from the passenger's physician saying that the
disease or infection would not, under the present conditions in the
particular passenger's case, be communicable to other persons during
the normal course of a flight. The medical certificate must state any
conditions or precautions that would have to be observed to prevent the
transmission of the disease or infection to other persons in the normal
course of a flight. A medical certificate under this paragraph must be
dated within 10 days of the date of the flight for which it is
presented.
    (d) As a carrier, you may require that a passenger with a medical
certificate undergo additional medical review by you if there is a
legitimate medical reason for believing that there has been a
significant adverse change in the passenger's condition since the
issuance of the medical certificate or that the certificate
significantly understates the passenger's risk to the health of other
persons on the flight. If the results of this medical review
demonstrate that the passenger, notwithstanding the medical
certificate, is likely to be unable to complete the flight without
requiring extraordinary medical assistance (e.g.,

the passenger has apparent significant difficulty in breathing, appears
to be in substantial pain, etc.) or would pose a direct threat to the
health or safety of other persons on the flight, you may take an action
otherwise prohibited under Sec.  382.23(a) of this Part.

Sec.  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.

Sec.  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
Sec. Sec.  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 in-flight 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 Sec.  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.

Sec.  382.29  May a carrier require a passenger with a disability to
travel with a safety assistant?

    (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, you must
not require that a passenger with a disability travel with another
person as a condition of being provided air transportation.
    (b) You may require a passenger with a disability in one of the
following categories to travel with a safety assistant as a condition
of being provided air transportation, if you determine that a safety
assistant is essential for safety:
    (1) A passenger traveling in a stretcher or incubator. The safety
assistant for such a person must be capable of attending to the
passenger's in-flight medical needs;
    (2) A passenger who, because of a mental disability, is unable to
comprehend or respond appropriately to safety instructions from carrier
personnel, including the safety briefing required by 14 CFR
121.571(a)(3) and (a)(4) or 14 CFR 135.117(b) or the safety regulations
of a foreign carrier's government, as applicable;
    (3) A passenger with a mobility impairment so severe that the
person is unable to physically assist in his or her own evacuation of
the aircraft;
    (4) A passenger who has both severe hearing and severe vision
impairments, if the passenger cannot establish some means of
communication with carrier personnel that is adequate both to permit
transmission of the safety briefing required by 14 CFR 121.57(a)(3) and
(a)(4), 14 CFR 135,117(b) or the safety regulations of a foreign
carrier's government, as applicable, and to enable the passenger to
assist in his or her own evacuation of the aircraft in the event of an
emergency. You may require a passenger with severe hearing and vision
impairment who wishes to travel without a safety assistant to notify
you at least 48 hours in advance to provide this explanation. If the
passenger fails to meet this notice requirement, however, you must
still accommodate him or her to the extent practicable.
    (c)(1) If you determine that a person meeting the criteria of
paragraph (b)(2), (b)(3) or (b)(4) of this section must travel with a
safety assistant, contrary to the individual's self-assessment that he
or she is capable of traveling independently, you must not charge for
the transportation of the safety assistant. You are not required to
find or provide the safety assistant, however.
    (2) For purposes of paragraph (b)(4) of this section, you may
require, contrary to the individual's self-assessment, that an
individual with both severe hearing and vision impairments must travel
with a safety assistant if you determine that--
    (i) The means of communication that the individual has explained to
you does not adequately satisfy the objectives identified in paragraph
(b)(4) of this section; or
    (ii) The individual proposes to establish communication by means of
finger spelling and you cannot, within the time following the
individual's notification, arrange for a flight crew member who can
communicate using this method to serve the passenger's flight.
    (3) If a passenger voluntarily chooses to travel with a personal
care attendant

or safety assistant that you do not require, you may charge for the
transportation of that person.
    (d) If, because there is not a seat available on a flight for a
safety assistant whom the carrier has determined to be necessary, a
passenger with a disability holding a confirmed reservation is unable
to travel on the flight, you must compensate the passenger with a
disability in an amount to be calculated as provided for instances of
involuntary denied boarding under 14 CFR part 250, where part 250
applies.
    (e) For purposes of determining whether a seat is available for a
safety assistant, you must deem the safety assistant to have checked in
at the same time as the passenger with a disability.
    (f) Concern that a passenger with a disability may need personal
care services (e.g., assistance in using lavatory facilities or with
eating) is not a basis for requiring the passenger to travel with a
safety assistant. You must explain this clearly in training or
information you provide to your employees. You may advise passengers
that your personnel are not required to provide such services.

Sec.  382.31  May carriers impose special charges on passengers with a
disability for providing services and accommodations required by this
rule?

    (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Part you must not, as a
carrier, impose charges for providing facilities, equipment, or
services that this rule requires to be provided to passengers with a
disability. You may charge for services that this Part does not
require.
    (b) You may charge a passenger for the use of more than one seat if
the passenger's size or condition (e.g., use of a stretcher) causes him
or her to occupy the space of more than one seat. This is not
considered a special charge under this section.
    (c) If your web site that passengers use to make reservations or
purchase tickets is not accessible to a passenger with a disability,
you must not charge a fee to the passenger who is consequently unable
to make a reservation or purchase a ticket on that site for using
another booking method (e.g., making a reservation by phone). If a
discount is made available to a passenger who books a flight using an
inaccessible web site, you must make that discount available to a
passenger with a disability who cannot use the web site and who
purchases a ticket from you using another method.

Sec.  382.33  May carriers impose other restrictions on passengers with
a disability that they do not impose on other passengers?

    (a) As a carrier, you must not subject passengers with a disability
to restrictions that do not apply to other passengers, except as
otherwise permitted in this Part (e.g., advance notice requirements for
certain services permitted by Sec.  382.27).
    (b) Restrictions you must not impose on passengers with a
disability include, but are not limited to, the following:
    (1) Restricting passengers'' movement within the terminal;
    (2) Requiring passengers to remain in a holding area or other
location in order to receive transportation, services, or
accommodations;
    (3) Making passengers sit on blankets on the aircraft;
    (4) Making passengers wear badges or other special identification
(e.g., similar to badges worn by unaccompanied minors); or
    (5) Otherwise mandating separate treatment for passengers with a
disability, unless permitted or required by this Part or other
applicable Federal requirements.

Sec.  382.35  May carriers require passengers with a disability to sign
waivers or releases?

    (a) As a carrier, you must not require passengers with a disability
to sign a release or waiver of liability in order to receive
transportation or to receive services or accommodations for a
disability.
    (b) You must not require passengers with a disability to sign
waivers of liability for damage to or loss of wheelchairs or other
assistive devices, or for the loss of, death of, or injury to service
animals. Carriers may note pre-existing damage to an assistive device
to the same extent that carriers do this with respect to other checked
baggage.

Subpart C--Information for Passengers

Sec.  382.41  What flight-related information must carriers provide to
qualified individuals with a disability?

    As a carrier, you must provide the following information, on
request, to qualified individuals with a disability or persons making
inquiries on their behalf concerning the accessibility of the aircraft
expected to make a particular flight. The information you provide must
be specific to the aircraft you expect to use for the flight unless it
is unfeasible for you to do so (e.g., because unpredictable
circumstances such as weather or a mechanical problem require
substitution of another aircraft that could affect the location or
availability of an accommodation). The required information is:
    (a) The specific location of seats, if any, with movable armrests
(i.e., by row and seat number);
    (b) The specific location of seats (i.e., by row and seat number)
that the carrier, consistent with this Part, does not make available to
passengers with a disability (e.g., exit row seats);
    (c) Any aircraft-related, service-related or other limitations on
the ability to accommodate passengers with a disability, including
limitations on the availability of level-entry boarding to the aircraft
at any airport involved with the flight. You must provide this
information to any passenger who states that he or she uses a
wheelchair for boarding, even if the passenger does not explicitly
request the information.
    (d) Any limitations on the availability of storage facilities, in
the cabin or in the cargo bay, for mobility aids or other assistive
devices commonly used by passengers with a disability, including
storage in the cabin of a passenger's wheelchair as provided in
Sec. Sec.  382.67 and 382.123 of this Part;
    (e) Whether the aircraft has an accessible lavatory; and
    (f) The types of services to passengers with a disability that are
or are not available on the flight.

Sec.  382.43  Must information and reservation services of carriers be
accessible to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind?

    (a) If, as a carrier, you provide telephone reservation and
information service to the public, you must make this service available
to individuals who use a text telephone (TTY), whether via your own
TTY, voice relay, or other available technology, as follows:
    (1) You must provide access to TTY users during the same hours as
the telephone service is available to the general public.
    (2) You must ensure that the response time for answering calls and
the level of service provided to TTY users is substantially equivalent
to the response time and level of service provided to the general
public (i.e., non-TTY users).
    (3) You must not subject TTY users to charges exceeding those that
apply to non-TTY users of telephone information and reservation
service.
    (4) In any medium in which you list the telephone number of your
information and reservation service for the general public, you must
also list your TTY number if you have one. If you do not have a TTY
number, you must state how TTY users can reach your information and
reservation service (e.g., via a voice relay service).

    (5) If you are a foreign carrier, you must meet this requirement by
May 13, 2010.
    (b) The requirements of paragraph (a) do not apply to you in any
country in which the telecommunications infrastructure does not readily
permit compliance.

Sec.  382.45  Must carriers make copies of this Part available to
passengers?

    (a) As a carrier, you must keep a current copy of this Part at each
airport you serve. As a foreign carrier, you must keep a copy of this
Part at each airport serving a flight you operate that begins or ends
at a U.S. airport. You must make this copy available for review by any
member of the public on request.
    (b) If you have a Web site, it must provide notice to consumers
that they can obtain a copy of this Part in an accessible format from
the Department of Transportation by any of the following means:
    (1) For calls made from within the United States, by telephone via
the Toll-Free Hotline for Air Travelers with Disabilities at 1-800-778-
4838 (voice) or 1-800-455-9880 (TTY),
    (2) By telephone to the Aviation Consumer Protection Division at
202-366-2220 (voice) or<PHONE_NUMBER> (TTY),
    (3) By mail to the Air Consumer Protection Division, C-75, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., West Building,
Room W96-432, Washington, DC 20590, and
    (4) On the Aviation Consumer Protection Division's Web site (http:/
/airconsumer.ost.dot.gov).

Subpart D--Accessibility of Airport Facilities

Sec.  382.51  What requirements must carriers meet concerning the
accessibility of airport facilities?

    (a) As a carrier, you must comply with the following requirements
with respect to all terminal facilities you own, lease, or control at a
U.S. airport:
    (1) You must ensure that terminal facilities providing access to
air transportation are readily accessible to and usable by individuals
with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs. You are
deemed to comply with this obligation if the facilities meet
requirements applying to places of public accommodation under
Department of Justice (DOJ) regulations implementing Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
    (2) With respect to any situation in which boarding and deplaning
by level-entry loading bridges or accessible passenger lounges to and
from an aircraft is not available, you must ensure that there is an
accessible route between the gate and the area from which aircraft are
boarded (e.g., the tarmac in a situation in which level-entry boarding
is not available). An accessible route is one meeting the requirements
of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines
(ADAAG), sections 4.3.3 through 4.3.10.
    (3) You must ensure that systems of intra- and inter-terminal
transportation, including, but not limited to, moving sidewalks,
shuttle vehicles and people movers, comply with applicable requirements
of the Department of Transportation's ADA rules (49 CFR parts 37 and
38).
    (4) Your contracts or leases with airport operators concerning the
use of airport facilities must set forth your airport accessibility
responsibility under this Part and that of the airport operator under
applicable section 504 and ADA rules of the Department of
Transportation and Department of Justice.
    (5) In cooperation with the airport operator and in consultation
with local service animal training organization(s), you must provide
animal relief areas for service animals that accompany passengers
departing, connecting, or arriving at an airport on your flights.
    (6) You must enable captioning at all times on all televisions and
other audio-visual displays that are capable of displaying captions and
that are located in any portion of the terminal to which any passengers
have access on May 13, 2009. The captioning must be high-contrast
insofar as is feasible.
    (7) You must replace any televisions and other audio-visual
displays providing passengers with safety briefings, information, or
entertainment that do not have high-contrast captioning capability with
equipment that does have such capability whenever such equipment is
replaced in the normal course of operations and/or whenever areas of
the terminal in which such equipment is located are undergoing
substantial renovation or expansion.
    (8) If you newly acquire televisions and other audio-visual
displays for passenger safety briefings, information, or entertainment
on or after May 13, 2009, such equipment must have high-contrast
captioning capability.
    (b) As a carrier, you must ensure that passengers with a disability
can readily use all terminal facilities you own, lease, or control at a
foreign airport. In the case of foreign carriers, this requirement
applies only to terminal facilities that serve flights covered by Sec.
382.7 of this part.
    (1) This means that passengers with a disability must be able to
move readily through such terminal facilities to get to or from the
gate and any other area from which passengers board the aircraft you
use for such flights (e.g., the tarmac in the case of flights that do
not use level-entry boarding). This obligation is in addition to your
obligation to provide enplaning, deplaning, and connecting assistance
to passengers.
    (2) You may meet this obligation through any combination of
facility accessibility, auxiliary aids, equipment, the assistance of
personnel, or other appropriate means consistent with the safety and
dignity of passengers with a disability.
    (c) As a foreign carrier, you must meet the requirements of this
section by May 13, 2010. As a U.S. carrier, you must meet the
requirements of paragraph (b) of this section by May 13, 2010.

Sec.  382.53  What information must carriers give individuals with a
vision or hearing impairment at airports?

    (a)(1) As a U.S. carrier, you must ensure that passengers with a
disability who identify themselves as persons needing visual or hearing
assistance have prompt access to the same information provided to other
passengers at each gate, ticketing area, and customer service desk that
you own, lease, or control at any U.S. or foreign airport, to the
extent that this does not interfere with employees' safety and security
duties as set forth in FAA, TSA, and applicable foreign regulations.
    (2) As a foreign carrier, you must make this information available
at each gate, ticketing area, and customer service desk that you own,
lease, or control at any U.S. airport. At foreign airports, you must
make this information available only at gates, ticketing areas, or
customer service desks that you own, lease, or control and only for
flights that begin or end in the U.S.
    (3) As a U.S. or foreign carrier, at any U.S. airport covered by
this paragraph where the airport has effective control over the covered
gates, ticketing areas, and customer service desks, you and the airport
are jointly responsible for compliance.
    (b) The information you must provide under paragraph (a) of this
section includes, but is not limited to, the following: Information
concerning flight safety, ticketing, flight check-in, flight delays or
cancellations, schedule changes, boarding information, connections,
gate assignments, checking baggage, volunteer solicitation on oversold
flights (e.g., offers of

compensation for surrendering a reservation), individuals being paged
by airlines, aircraft changes that affect the travel of persons with
disabilities, and emergencies (e.g., fire, bomb threat).
    (c) With respect to information on claiming baggage, you must
provide the information to passengers who identify themselves as
persons needing visual or hearing assistance no later than you provide
this information to other passengers.

Sec.  382.55  May carriers impose security screening procedures for
passengers with disabilities that go beyond TSA requirements or those
of foreign governments?

    (a) All passengers, including those with disabilities, are subject
to TSA security screening requirements at U.S. airports. In addition,
passengers at foreign airports, including those with disabilities, may
be subject to security screening measures required by law of the
country in which the airport is located.
    (b) If, as a carrier, you impose security screening procedures for
passengers with disabilities that go beyond those mandated by TSA (or,
at a foreign airport, beyond the law of the country in which the
airport is located), you must ensure that they meet the following
requirements:
    (1) You must use the same criteria for applying security screening
procedures to passengers with disabilities as to other passengers.
    (2) You must not subject a passenger with a disability to special
screening procedures because the person is traveling with a mobility
aid or other assistive device if the person using the aid or device
clears the security system without activating it.
    (i) However, your security personnel may examine a mobility aid or
assistive device which, in their judgment, may conceal a weapon or
other prohibited item.
    (ii) You may conduct security searches of qualified individuals
with a disability whose aids activate the security system in the same
manner as for other passengers.
    (3) You must not require private security screenings of passengers
with a disability to a greater extent, or for any different reason,
than for other passengers.
    (c) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, if a
passenger with a disability requests a private screening in a timely
manner, you must provide it in time for the passenger to enplane.
    (d) If you use technology that can conduct an appropriate screening
of a passenger with a disability without necessitating a physical
search of the person, you are not required to provide a private
screening.

Sec.  382.57  What services must carriers provide if their automated
kiosks are inaccessible?

    As a carrier, if your automated kiosks in airport terminals cannot
readily be used by a passenger with a disability for such functions as
ticketing and obtaining boarding passes that the kiosks make available
to other passengers, you must provide equivalent service to the
passenger (e.g., by assistance from your personnel in using the kiosk
or allowing the passenger to come to the front of the line at the
check-in counter).

Subpart E--Accessibility of Aircraft

Sec.  382.61  What are the requirements for movable aisle armrests?

    (a) As a carrier, you must ensure that aircraft with 30 or more
passenger seats on which passenger aisle seats have armrests are
equipped with movable aisle armrests on at least one-half of the aisle
seats in rows in which passengers with mobility impairments are
permitted to sit under FAA or applicable foreign government safety
rules.
    (b) You are not required to provide movable armrests on aisle seats
of rows which a passenger with a mobility impairment is precluded from
using by an FAA safety rule.
    (c) You must ensure that these movable aisle armrests are provided
proportionately in all classes of service in the cabin. For example, if
80 percent of the aisle seats in which passengers with mobility
impairments may sit are in coach, and 20 percent are in first class,
then 80 percent of the movable aisle armrests must be in coach, with 20
percent in first class.
    (d) For aircraft equipped with movable aisle armrests, you must
configure cabins, or establish administrative systems, to ensure that
passengers with mobility impairments or other passengers with a
disability can readily identify and obtain seating in rows with movable
aisle armrests. You must provide this information by specific seat and
row number.
    (e) You are not required to retrofit cabin interiors of existing
aircraft to comply with the requirements of this section. However, if
you replace any of an aircraft's aisle seats with newly manufactured
seats, the new seats must include movable aisle armrests as required by
this section. However, an aircraft is never required to have movable
aisle armrests on more than one half of the aisle seats.
    (f) As a foreign carrier, you must comply with the requirements of
paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section with respect to new aircraft
you operate that were initially ordered after May 13, 2009 or which are
delivered after May 13, 2010. As a U.S. carrier, the requirements of
paragraphs (a), (b), (d), and (e) of this section applies to you with
respect to new aircraft you operate that were initially ordered after
April 5, 1990, or which are delivered after April 5, 1992. As a U.S.
carrier, paragraph (c) of this section applies to you with respect to
new aircraft you operate that were initially ordered after May 13, 2009
or which were delivered after May 13, 2010.
    (g) As a foreign carrier, you must comply with the requirements of
paragraph (e) of this section with respect to seats ordered after May
13, 2009.

Sec.  382.63  What are the requirements for accessible lavatories?

    (a) As a carrier, you must ensure that aircraft with more than one
aisle in which lavatories are provided shall include at least one
accessible lavatory.
    (1) The accessible lavatory must permit a qualified individual with
a disability to enter, maneuver within as necessary to use all lavatory
facilities, and leave, by means of the aircraft's on-board wheelchair.
    (2) The accessible lavatory must afford privacy to persons using
the on-board wheelchair equivalent to that afforded ambulatory users.
    (3) The lavatory shall provide door locks, accessible call buttons,
grab bars, faucets and other controls, and dispensers usable by
qualified individuals with a disability, including wheelchair users and
persons with manual impairments.
    (b) With respect to aircraft with only one aisle in which
lavatories are provided, you may, but are not required to, provide an
accessible lavatory.
    (c) You are not required to retrofit cabin interiors of existing
aircraft to comply with the requirements of this section. However, if
you replace a lavatory on an aircraft with more than one aisle, you
must replace it with an accessible lavatory.
    (d) As a foreign carrier, you must comply with the requirements of
paragraph (a) of this section with respect to new aircraft you operate
that were initially ordered after May 13, 2009 or which are delivered
after May 13, 2010. As a U.S. carrier, this requirement applies to you
with respect to new aircraft you operate that were initially ordered
after April 5, 1990, or

which were delivered after April 5, 1992.
    (e) As a foreign carrier, you must comply with the requirements of
paragraph (c) of this section beginning May 13, 2009. As a U.S.
carrier, these requirements apply to you with respect to new aircraft
you operate that were initially ordered after April 5, 1990, or which
were delivered after April 5, 1992.

Sec.  382.65  What are the requirements concerning on-board
wheelchairs?

    (a) As a carrier, you must equip aircraft that have more than 60
passenger seats, and that have an accessible lavatory (whether or not
having such a lavatory is required by Sec.  382.63 of this Part) with
an on-board wheelchair. The Aerospatiale/Aeritalia ATR-72 and the
British Aerospace Advanced Turboprop (ATP), in configurations having
between 60 and 70 passenger seats, are exempt from this requirement.
    (b) If a passenger asks you to provide an on-board wheelchair on a
particular flight, you must provide it if the aircraft being used for
the flight has more than 60 passenger seats, even if the aircraft does
not have an accessible lavatory.
    (1) The basis of the passenger's request must be that he or she can
use an inaccessible lavatory but cannot reach it from a seat without
using an on-board wheelchair.
    (2) You may require the passenger to provide the advance notice
specified in Sec.  382.27 to receive this service.
    (c) You must ensure that on-board wheelchairs meet the following
standards:
    (1) On-board wheelchairs must include footrests, armrests which are
movable or removable, adequate occupant restraint systems, a backrest
height that permits assistance to passengers in transferring,
structurally sound handles for maneuvering the occupied chair, and
wheel locks or another adequate means to prevent chair movement during
transfer or turbulence.
    (2) The chair must be designed to be compatible with the
maneuvering space, aisle width, and seat height of the aircraft on
which it is to be used, and to be easily pushed, pulled, and turned in
the cabin environment by carrier personnel.
    (d) As a foreign carrier, you must meet this requirement as of May
13, 2010. As a U.S. carrier, you must meet this requirement by May 13,
2009.

Sec.  382.67  What is the requirement for priority space in the cabin
to store passengers' wheelchairs?

    (a) As a carrier, you must ensure that there is a priority space in
the cabin of sufficient size to stow at least one typical adult-sized
folding, collapsible, or break-down manual passenger wheelchair, the
dimensions of which are within a space of 13 inches by 36 inches by 42
inches without having to remove the wheels or otherwise disassemble it.
This requirement applies to any aircraft with 100 or more passenger
seats; and
    (b) This space must be other than the overhead compartments and
under-seat spaces routinely used for passengers' carry-on items.
    (c) As a foreign carrier, you must meet the requirement of
paragraph (a) of this section for new aircraft ordered after May 13,
2009 or delivered after May 13, 2010. As a U.S. carrier, this
requirement applies to you with respect to new aircraft you operate
that were ordered after April 5, 1990, or which were delivered after
April 5, 1992.

Sec.  382.69  What requirements must carriers meet concerning the
accessibility of videos, DVDs, and other audio-visual presentations
shown on-aircraft to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing?

    (a) As a carrier, you must ensure that all new videos, DVDs, and
other audio-visual displays played on aircraft for safety purposes, and
all such new audio-visual displays played on aircraft for informational
purposes that were created under your control, are high-contrast
captioned. The captioning must be in the predominant language or
languages in which you communicate with passengers on the flight.
    (b) The requirements of paragraph (a) of this section go into
effect with respect to audio-visual displays used for safety purposes
on November 10, 2009.
    (c) Between May 13, 2009 and November 9, 2009, U.S. carriers must
ensure that all videos, DVDs, and other audio-visual displays played on
aircraft for safety purposes have open captioning or an inset for a
sign language interpreter, unless such captioning or inset either would
interfere with the video presentation so as to render it ineffective or
would not be large enough to be readable, in which case these carriers
must use an equivalent non-video alternative for transmitting the
briefing to passengers with hearing impairments.
    (d) The requirements of paragraph (a) of this section go into
effect with respect to informational displays on January 8, 2010.

Sec.  382.71  What other aircraft accessibility requirements apply to
carriers?

    (a) As a carrier, you must maintain all aircraft accessibility
features in proper working order.
    (b) You must ensure that any replacement or refurbishing of the
aircraft cabin or its elements does not reduce the accessibility of
that element to a level below that specified in this Part.

Subpart F--Seating Accommodations

Sec.  382.81  For which passengers must carriers make seating
accommodations?

    As a carrier, you must provide the following seating accommodations
to the following passengers on request, if the passenger self-
identifies to you as having a disability specified in this section and
the type of seating accommodation in question exists on the particular
aircraft. Once the passenger self-identifies to you, you must ensure
that the information is recorded and properly transmitted to personnel
responsible for providing the accommodation.
    (a) For a passenger who uses an aisle chair to access the aircraft
and who cannot readily transfer over a fixed aisle armrest, you must
provide a seat in a row with a movable aisle armrest. You must ensure
that your personnel are trained in the location and proper use of
movable aisle armrests, including appropriate transfer techniques. You
must ensure that aisle seats with movable armrests are clearly
identifiable.
    (b) You must provide an adjoining seat for a person assisting a
passenger with a disability in the following circumstances:
    (1) When a passenger with a disability is traveling with a personal
care attendant who will be performing a function for the individual
during the flight that airline personnel are not required to perform
(e.g., assistance with eating);
    (2) When a passenger with a vision impairment is traveling with a
reader/assistant who will be performing functions for the individual
during the flight;
    (3) When a passenger with a hearing impairment is traveling with an
interpreter who will be performing functions for the individual during
the flight; or
    (4) When you require a passenger to travel with a safety assistant
(see Sec.  382.29).
    (c) For a passenger with a disability traveling with a service
animal, you must provide, as the passenger requests, either a bulkhead
seat or a seat other than a bulkhead seat.
    (d) For a passenger with a fused or immobilized leg, you must
provide a bulkhead seat or other seat that provides greater legroom
than other seats, on the

side of an aisle that better accommodates the individual's disability.

Sec.  382.83  Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating
accommodations?

    (a) If you are a carrier that provides advance seat assignments to
passengers (i.e., offer seat assignments to passengers before the day
of the flight), you must comply with the requirements of Sec.  382.81
of this Part by any of the following methods:
    (1) You may ``block'' an adequate number of the seats used to
provide the seating accommodations required by Sec.  382.81.
    (i) You must not assign these seats to passengers who do not meet
the criteria of Sec.  382.81 until 24 hours before the scheduled
departure of the flight.
    (ii) At any time up until 24 hours before the scheduled departure
of the flight, you must assign a seat meeting the requirements of this
section to a passenger with a disability meeting one or more of the
requirements of Sec.  382.81 who requests it, at the time the passenger
initially makes the request.
    (iii) If a passenger with a disability specified in Sec.  382.81
does not make a request at least 24 hours before the scheduled
departure of the flight, you must meet the passenger's request to the
extent practicable, but you are not required to reassign a seat
assigned to another passenger in order to do so.
    (2) You may designate an adequate number of the seats used to
provide seating accommodations required by Sec.  382.81 as ``priority
seats'' for passengers with a disability.
    (i) You must provide notice that all passengers assigned these
seats (other than passengers with a disability listed in Sec.  382.81
of this Part) are subject to being reassigned to another seat if
necessary to provide a seating accommodation required by this section.
    (ii) You may provide this notice through your computer reservation
system, verbal information provided by reservation personnel, ticket
notices, gate announcements, counter signs, seat cards or notices,
frequent-flier literature, or other appropriate means.
    (iii) You must assign a seat meeting the requirements of this
section to a passenger with a disability listed in Sec.  382.81 of this
Part who requests the accommodation at the time the passenger makes the
request. You may require such a passenger to check in and request the
seating accommodation at least one hour before the standard check-in
time for the flight. If all designated priority seats that would
accommodate the passenger have been assigned to other passengers, you
must reassign the seats of the other passengers as needed to provide
the requested accommodation.
    (iv) If a passenger with a disability listed in Sec.  382.81 does
not check in at least an hour before the standard check-in time for the
general public, you must meet the individual's request to the extent
practicable, but you are not required to reassign a seat assigned to
another passenger in order to do so.
    (b) If you assign seats to passengers, but not until the date of
the flight, you must use the ``priority seating'' approach of paragraph
(a)(2) of this section.
    (c) If you do not provide advance seat assignments to passengers,
you must allow passengers specified in Sec.  382.81 to board the
aircraft before other passengers, including other ``preboarded''
passengers, so that the passengers needing seating accommodations can
select seats that best meet their needs.
    (d) As a carrier, if you wish to use a different method of
providing seating assignment accommodations to passengers with
disabilities from those specified in this subpart, you must obtain the
written concurrence of the Department of Transportation. Contact the
Department at the address cited in Sec.  382.159 of this Part.

Sec.  382.85  What seating accommodations must carriers make to
passengers in circumstances not covered by Sec.  382.81 (a) through
(d)?

    As a carrier, you must provide the following seating accommodations
to a passenger who self-identifies as having a disability other than
one in the four categories listed in Sec.  382.81 (a) through (d) of
this Part and as needing a seat assignment accommodation in order to
readily access and use the carrier's air transportation services:
    (a) As a carrier that assigns seats in advance, you must provide
accommodations in the following ways:
    (1) If you use the ``seat-blocking'' mechanism of Sec.
382.83(a)(1) of this Part, you must implement the requirements of this
section as follows:
    (i) When a passenger with a disability not described in Sec.
382.81(a) through (d) of this Part makes a reservation more than 24
hours before the scheduled departure time of the flight, you are not
required to offer the passenger one of the seats blocked for the use of
passengers with a disability listed under Sec.  382.81.
    (ii) However, you must assign to the passenger any seat, not
already assigned to another passenger that accommodates the passenger's
needs, even if that seat is not available for assignment to the general
passenger population at the time of the request.
    (2) If you use the ``designated priority seats'' mechanism of Sec.
382.83(a)(2) of this Part, you must implement the requirements of this
section as follows:
    (i) When a passenger with a disability not described in Sec.
382.81 makes a reservation, you must assign to the passenger any seat,
not already assigned to another passenger, that accommodates the
passenger's needs, even if that seat is not available for assignment to
the general passenger population at the time of the request. You may
require a passenger making such a request to check in one hour before
the standard check-in time for the flight.
    (ii) If such a passenger is assigned to a designated priority seat,
he or she is subject to being reassigned to another seat as provided in
Sec.  382.83(a)(2)(i) of this subpart.
    (b) On flights where advance seat assignments are not offered, you
must provide seating accommodations under this section by allowing
passengers to board the aircraft before other passengers, including
other ``preboarded'' passengers, so that the individuals needing
seating accommodations can select seats that best meet their needs.
    (c) If you assign seats to passengers, but not until the date of
the flight, you must use the ``priority seating'' approach of section
382.83(a)(2).

Sec.  382.87  What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers
with a disability?

    (a) As a carrier, you must not exclude any passenger with a
disability from any seat or require that a passenger with a disability
sit in any particular seat, on the basis of disability, except to
comply with FAA or applicable foreign government safety requirements.
    (b) In responding to requests from individuals for accommodations
under this subpart, you must comply with FAA and applicable foreign
government safety requirements, including those pertaining to exit
seating (see 14 CFR 121.585 and 135.129).
    (c) If a passenger's disability results in involuntary active
behavior that would result in the person properly being refused
transportation under Sec.  382.19, and the passenger could be
transported safely if seated in another location, you must offer to let
the passenger sit in that location as an alternative to being refused
transportation.
    (d) If you have already provided a seat to a passenger with a
disability to furnish an accommodation required by this subpart, you
must not (except in the

circumstance described in Sec.  382.85(a)(2)(ii)) reassign that
passenger to another seat in response to a subsequent request from
another passenger with a disability, without the first passenger's
consent.
    (e) You must never deny transportation to any passenger in order to
provide accommodations required by this subpart.
    (f) You are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket
or to provide a seat in a class of service other than the one the
passenger has purchased in order to provide an accommodation required
by this Part.

Subpart G--Boarding, Deplaning, and Connecting Assistance

Sec.  382.91  What assistance must carriers provide to passengers with
a disability in moving within the terminal?

    (a) As a carrier, you must provide or ensure the provision of
assistance requested by or on behalf of a passenger with a disability,
or offered by carrier or airport operator personnel and accepted by a
passenger with a disability, in transportation between gates to make a
connection to another flight. If the arriving flight and the departing
connecting flight are operated by different carriers, the carrier that
operated the arriving flight (i.e., the one that operates the first of
the two flights that are connecting) is responsible for providing or
ensuring the provision of this assistance, even if the passenger holds
a separate ticket for the departing flight. It is permissible for the
two carriers to mutually agree that the carrier operating the departing
connecting flight (i.e., the second flight of the two) will provide
this assistance, but the carrier operating the arriving flight remains
responsible under this section for ensuring that the assistance is
provided.
    (b) You must also provide or ensure the provision of assistance
requested by or on behalf of a passenger with a disability, or offered
by carrier or airport operator personnel and accepted by a passenger
with a disability, in moving from the terminal entrance (or a vehicle
drop-off point adjacent to the entrance) through the airport to the
gate for a departing flight, or from the gate to the terminal entrance
(or a vehicle pick-up point adjacent to the entrance after an arriving
flight).
    (1) This requirement includes assistance in accessing key
functional areas of the terminal, such as ticket counters and baggage
claim.
    (2) This requirement also includes a brief stop upon the
passenger's request at the entrance to a rest room (including an
accessible rest room when requested). As a carrier, you are required to
make such a stop only if the rest room is available on the route to the
destination of the enplaning, deplaning, or connecting assistance and
you can make the stop without unreasonable delay. To receive such
assistance, the passenger must self-identify as being an individual
with a disability needing the assistance.
    (c) As a carrier at a U.S. airport, you must, on request, in
cooperation with the airport operator, provide for escorting a
passenger with a service animal to an animal relief area provided under
Sec.  382.51(a)(5) of this Part.
    (d) As part of your obligation to provide or ensure the provision
of assistance to passengers with disabilities in moving through the
terminal (e.g., between the terminal entrance and the gate, between
gate and aircraft, from gate to a baggage claim area), you must assist
passengers who are unable to carry their luggage because of a
disability with transporting their gate-checked or carry-on luggage.
You may request the credible verbal assurance that a passenger cannot
carry the luggage in question. If a passenger is unable to provide
credible assurance, you may require the passenger to provide
documentation as a condition of providing this service.

Sec.  382.93  Must carriers offer preboarding to passengers with a
disability?

    As a carrier, you must offer preboarding to passengers with a
disability who self-identify at the gate as needing additional time or
assistance to board, stow accessibility equipment, or be seated.

Sec.  382. 95  What are carriers' general obligations with respect to
boarding and deplaning assistance?

    (a) As a carrier, you must promptly provide or ensure the provision
of assistance requested by or on behalf of passengers with a
disability, or offered by carrier or airport operator personnel and
accepted by passengers with a disability, in enplaning and deplaning.
This assistance must include, as needed, the services of personnel and
the use of ground wheelchairs, accessible motorized carts, boarding
wheelchairs, and/or on-board wheelchairs where provided in accordance
with this Part, and ramps or mechanical lifts.
    (b) As a carrier, you must, except as otherwise provided in this
subpart, provide boarding and deplaning assistance through the use of
lifts or ramps at any U.S. commercial service airport with 10,000 or
more annual enplanements where boarding and deplaning by level-entry
loading bridges or accessible passenger lounges is not available.

Sec.  382.97  To which aircraft does the requirement to provide
boarding and deplaning assistance through the use of lifts apply?

    The requirement of section 382.95(b) of this Part to provide
boarding and deplaning assistance through the use of lifts applies with
respect to all aircraft with a passenger capacity of 19 or more, with
the following exceptions:
    (a) Float planes;
    (b) The following 19-seat capacity aircraft models: the Fairchild
Metro, the Jetstream 31 and 32, the Beech 1900 (C and D models), and
the Embraer EMB-120;
    (c) Any other aircraft model determined by the Department of
Transportation to be unsuitable for boarding and deplaning assistance
by lift, ramp, or other suitable device.
    The Department will make such a determination if it concludes
that--
    (1) No existing boarding and deplaning assistance device on the
market will accommodate the aircraft without a significant risk of
serious damage to the aircraft or injury to passengers or employees, or
    (2) Internal barriers are present in the aircraft that would
preclude passengers who use a boarding or aisle chair from reaching a
non-exit row seat.

Sec.  382.99  What agreements must carriers have with the airports they
serve?

    (a) As a carrier, you must negotiate in good faith with the airport
operator of each U.S. airport described in Sec.  382.95(b) to ensure
the provision of lifts for boarding and deplaning where level-entry
loading bridges are not available.
    (b) You must have a written, signed agreement with the airport
operator allocating responsibility for meeting the boarding and
deplaning assistance requirements of this subpart between or among the
parties. For foreign carriers, with respect to all covered aircraft,
this requirement becomes effective May 13, 2010.
    (c) For foreign carriers, the agreement with a U.S. airport must
provide that all actions necessary to ensure accessible boarding and
deplaning for passengers with a disability are completed as soon as
practicable, but no later than May 13, 2010.
    (d) Under the agreement, you may, as a carrier, require that
passengers wishing to receive boarding and deplaning assistance
requiring the use of a lift for a flight check in for the flight one
hour before the standard check-in

time for the flight. If the passenger checks in after this time, you
must nonetheless provide the boarding and deplaning assistance by lift
if you can do so by making a reasonable effort, without delaying the
flight.
    (e) The agreement must ensure that all lifts and other
accessibility equipment are maintained in proper working condition.
    (f) All carriers and airport operators involved are jointly and
severally responsible for the timely and complete implementation of the
agreement.
    (g) You must make a copy of this agreement available, on request,
to representatives of the Department of Transportation.

Sec.  382.101  What other boarding and deplaning assistance must
carriers provide?

    When level-entry boarding and deplaning assistance is not required
to be provided under this subpart, you must, as a carrier, provide or
ensure the provision of boarding and deplaning assistance by any
available means to which the passenger consents. However, you must
never use hand-carrying (i.e., directly picking up the passenger's body
in the arms of one or more carrier personnel to effect a level change
the passenger needs to enter or leave the aircraft), even if the
passenger consents, unless this is the only way of evacuating the
individual in the event of an emergency. The situations in which level-
entry boarding is not required but in which you must provide this
boarding and deplaning assistance include, but are not limited to, the
following:
    (a) The boarding or deplaning process occurs at a U.S. airport that
is not a commercial service airport that has 10,000 or more
enplanements per year;
    (b) The boarding or deplaning process occurs at a foreign airport;
    (c) You are using an aircraft subject to an exception from the lift
boarding and deplaning assistance requirements under Sec.  382.97 (a)-
(c) of this subpart;
    (d) The deadlines established in Sec.  382.99(c) have not yet
passed; and
    (e) Circumstances beyond your control (e.g., unusually severe
weather; unexpected mechanical problems) prevent the use of a lift.

Sec.  382.103  May a carrier leave a passenger unattended in a
wheelchair or other device?

    As a carrier, you must not leave a passenger who has requested
assistance required by this subpart unattended by the personnel
responsible for enplaning, deplaning, or connecting assistance in a
ground wheelchair, boarding wheelchair, or other device, in which the
passenger is not independently mobile, for more than 30 minutes. This
requirement applies even if another person (e.g., family member,
personal care attendant) is accompanying the passenger, unless the
passenger explicitly waives the obligation.

Sec.  382.105  What is the responsibility of carriers at foreign
airports at which airport operators have responsibility for enplaning,
deplaning, and connecting assistance?

    At a foreign airport at which enplaning, deplaning, or connecting
assistance is provided by the airport operator, rather than by
carriers, as a carrier you may rely on the services provided by the
airport operator to meet the requirements of this subpart. If the
services provided by the airport operator are not sufficient to meet
the requirements of this subpart, you must supplement the airport
operator's services to ensure that these requirements are met. If you
believe you are precluded by law from supplementing the airport
operator's services, you may apply for a conflict of laws waiver under
Sec.  382.9 of this Part.

Subpart H--Services on Aircraft

Sec.  382.111  What services must carriers provide to passengers with a
disability on board the aircraft?

    As a carrier, you must provide services within the aircraft cabin
as requested by or on behalf of passengers with a disability, or when
offered by carrier personnel and accepted by passengers with a
disability, as follows:
    (a) Assistance in moving to and from seats, as part of the
enplaning and deplaning processes;
    (b) Assistance in preparation for eating, such as opening packages
and identifying food;
    (c) If there is an on-board wheelchair on the aircraft, assistance
with the use of the on-board wheelchair to enable the person to move to
and from a lavatory;
    (d) Assistance to a semi-ambulatory person in moving to and from
the lavatory, not involving lifting or carrying the person; or
    (e) Assistance in stowing and retrieving carry-on items, including
mobility aids and other assistive devices stowed in the cabin (see also
382.91(c)). To receive such assistance, the passenger must self-
identify as being an individual with a disability needing the
assistance.
    (f) Effective communication with passengers who have vision
impairments and/or who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, so that these
passengers have timely access to information the carrier provides to
other passengers (e.g., weather, on-board services, flight delays,
connecting gates at the next airport).

Sec.  382.113  What services are carriers not required to provide to
passengers with a disability on board the aircraft?

    As a carrier, you are not required to provide extensive special
assistance to qualified individuals with a disability. For purposes of
this section, extensive special assistance includes the following
activities:
    (a) Assistance in actual eating;
    (b) Assistance within the restroom or assistance at the passenger's
seat with elimination functions; and
    (c) Provision of medical services.

Sec.  382.115  What requirements apply to on-board safety briefings?

    As a carrier, you must comply with the following requirements with
respect to on-board safety briefings:
    (a) You must conduct an individual safety briefing for any
passenger where required by 14 CFR 121.571(a)(3) and (a)(4), 14 CFR
135.117(b), or other FAA requirements.
    (b) You may offer an individual briefing to any other passenger,
but you may not require an individual to have such a briefing except as
provided in paragraph (a) of this section.
    (c) You must not require any passenger with a disability to
demonstrate that he or she has listened to, read, or understood the
information presented, except to the extent that carrier personnel
impose such a requirement on all passengers with respect to the general
safety briefing. You must not take any action adverse to a qualified
individual with a disability on the basis that the person has not
``accepted'' the briefing.
    (d) When you conduct an individual safety briefing for a passenger
with a disability, you must do so as inconspicuously and discreetly as
possible.
    (e) The accessibility requirements for onboard video safety
presentations that carriers must meet are outlined in section 382.69.

Sec.  382.117  Must carriers permit passengers with a disability to
travel with service animals?

    (a) As a carrier, you must permit a service animal to accompany a
passenger with a disability.
    (1) You must not deny transportation to a service animal on the
basis that its carriage may offend or annoy carrier personnel or
persons traveling on the aircraft.
    (2) On a flight segment scheduled to take 8 hours or more, you may,
as a condition of permitting a service animal to travel in the cabin,
require the

passenger using the service animal to provide documentation that the
animal will not need to relieve itself on the flight or that the animal
can relieve itself in a way that does not create a health or sanitation
issue on the flight.
    (b) You must permit the service animal to accompany the passenger
with a disability at any seat in which the passenger sits, unless the
animal obstructs an aisle or other area that must remain unobstructed
to facilitate an emergency evacuation.
    (c) If a service animal cannot be accommodated at the seat location
of the passenger with a disability who is using the animal, you must
offer the passenger the opportunity to move with the animal to another
seat location, if present on the aircraft, where the animal can be
accommodated.
    (d) As evidence that an animal is a service animal, you must accept
identification cards, other written documentation, presence of
harnesses, tags, or the credible verbal assurances of a qualified
individual with a disability using the animal.
    (e) If a passenger seeks to travel with an animal that is used as
an emotional support or psychiatric service animal, you are not
required to accept the animal for transportation in the cabin unless
the passenger provides you current documentation (i.e., no older than
one year from the date of the passenger's scheduled initial flight) on
the letterhead of a licensed mental health professional (e.g.,
psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed clinical social worker) stating
the following:
    (1) The passenger has a mental or emotional disability recognized
in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--Fourth
Edition (DSM IV);
    (2) The passenger needs the emotional support or psychiatric
service animal as an accommodation for air travel and/or for activity
at the passenger's destination;
    (3) The individual providing the assessment is a licensed mental
health professional, and the passenger is under his or her professional
care; and
    (4) The date and type of the mental health professional's license
and the state or other jurisdiction in which it was issued.
    (f) You are never required to accommodate certain unusual service
animals (e.g., snakes, other reptiles, ferrets, rodents, and spiders)
as service animals in the cabin. With respect to other unusual or
exotic animals that are presented as service animals (e.g., miniature
horses, pigs, monkeys), as a U.S. carrier you must determine whether
any factors preclude their traveling in the cabin as service animals
(e.g., whether the animal is too large or heavy to be accommodated in
the cabin, whether the animal would pose a direct threat to the health
or safety of others, whether it would cause a significant disruption of
cabin service, whether it would be prohibited from entering a foreign
country that is the flight's destination). If no such factors preclude
the animal from traveling in the cabin, you must permit it to do so. As
a foreign carrier, you are not required to carry service animals other
than dogs.
    (g) Whenever you decide not to accept an animal as a service
animal, you must explain the reason for your decision to the passenger
and document it in writing. A copy of the explanation must be provided
to the passenger either at the airport, or within 10 calendar days of
the incident.
    (h) You must promptly take all steps necessary to comply with
foreign regulations (e.g., animal health regulations) needed to permit
the legal transportation of a passenger's service animal from the U.S.
into a foreign airport.
    (i) Guidance concerning the carriage of service animals generally
is found in the preamble of this rule. Guidance on the steps necessary
to legally transport service animals on flights from the U.S. into the
United Kingdom is found in 72 FR 8268-8277, (February 26, 2007).

Sec.  382.119  What information must carriers give individuals with
vision or hearing impairment on aircraft?

    (a) As a carrier, you must ensure that passengers with a disability
who identify themselves as needing visual or hearing assistance have
prompt access to the same information provided to other passengers on
the aircraft as described in paragraph (b) of this section, to the
extent that it does not interfere with crewmembers' safety duties as
set forth in FAA and applicable foreign regulations.
    (b) The covered information includes but is not limited to the
following: information concerning flight safety, procedures for takeoff
and landing, flight delays, schedule or aircraft changes that affect
the travel of persons with disabilities, diversion to a different
airport, scheduled departure and arrival time, boarding information,
weather conditions at the flight's destination, beverage and menu
information, connecting gate assignments, baggage claim, individuals
being paged by airlines, and emergencies (e.g., fire or bomb threat).

Subpart I--Stowage of Wheelchairs, Other Mobility Aids, and Other
Assistive Devices

Sec.  382.121  What mobility aids and other assistive devices may
passengers with a disability bring into the aircraft cabin?

    (a) As a carrier, you must permit passengers with a disability to
bring the following kinds of items into the aircraft cabin, provided
that they can be stowed in designated priority storage areas or in
overhead compartments or under seats, consistent with FAA, PHMSA, TSA,
or applicable foreign government requirements concerning security,
safety, and hazardous materials with respect to the stowage of carry-on
items.
    (1) Manual wheelchairs, including folding or collapsible
wheelchairs;
    (2) Other mobility aids, such as canes (including those used by
persons with impaired vision), crutches, and walkers; and
    (3) Other assistive devices for stowage or use within the cabin
(e.g., prescription medications and any medical devices needed to
administer them such as syringes or auto-injectors, vision-enhancing
devices, and POCs, ventilators and respirators that use non-spillable
batteries, as long as they comply with applicable safety, security and
hazardous materials rules).
    (b) In implementing your carry-on baggage policies, you must not
count assistive devices (including the kinds of items listed in
paragraph (a) of this section) toward a limit on carry-on baggage.

Sec.  382.123  What are the requirements concerning priority cabin
stowage for wheelchairs and other assistive devices?

    (a) The following rules apply to the stowage of passengers'
wheelchairs or other assistive devices in the priority stowage area
provided for in Sec.  382.67 of this Part:
    (1) You must ensure that a passenger with a disability who uses a
wheelchair and takes advantage of the opportunity to preboard the
aircraft can stow his or her wheelchair in this area, with priority
over other items brought onto the aircraft by other passengers or crew
enplaning at the same airport, consistent with FAA, PHMSA, TSA, or
applicable foreign government requirements concerning security, safety,
and hazardous materials with respect to the stowage of carry-on items.
You must move items that you or your personnel have placed in the
priority stowage area (e.g., crew luggage, an on-board wheelchair) to
make room for the passenger's wheelchair, even if these items were
stowed in the priority stowage area before the passenger

seeking to stow a wheelchair boarded the aircraft (e.g., the items were
placed there on a previous leg of the flight).
    (2) You must also ensure that a passenger with a disability who
takes advantage of the opportunity to preboard the aircraft can stow
other assistive devices in this area, with priority over other items
(except wheelchairs) brought onto the aircraft by other passengers
enplaning at the same airport consistent with FAA, PHMSA, TSA, or
applicable foreign government requirements concerning security, safety,
and hazardous materials with respect to the stowage of carry-on items.
    (3) You must ensure that a passenger with a disability who does not
take advantage of the opportunity to preboard is able to use the area
to stow his or her wheelchair or other assistive device on a first-
come, first-served basis along with all other passengers seeking to
stow carry-on items in the area.
    (b) If a wheelchair exceeds the space provided for in Sec.  382.67
of this Part while fully assembled but will fit if wheels or other
components can be removed without the use of tools, you must remove the
applicable components and stow the wheelchair in the designated space.
In this case, you must stow the removed components in areas provided
for stowage of carry-on luggage.
    (c) You must not use the seat-strapping method of carrying a
wheelchair in any aircraft you order after May 13, 2009 or which are
delivered after May 13, 2011. Any such aircraft must have the
designated priority stowage space required by section 382.67, and you
must permit passengers to use the space as provided in this section
382.123.

Sec.  382.125  What procedures do carriers follow when wheelchairs,
other mobility aids, and other assistive devices must be stowed in the
cargo compartment?

    (a) As a carrier, you must stow wheelchairs, other mobility aids,
or other assistive devices in the baggage compartment if an approved
stowage area is not available in the cabin or the items cannot be
transported in the cabin consistent with FAA, PHMSA, TSA, or applicable
foreign government requirements concerning security, safety, and
hazardous materials with respect to the stowage of carry-on items.
    (b) You must give wheelchairs, other mobility aids, and other
assistive devices priority for stowage in the baggage compartment over
other cargo and baggage. Only items that fit into the baggage
compartment and can be transported consistent with FAA, PHMSA, TSA, or
applicable foreign government requirements concerning security, safety,
and hazardous materials with respect to the stowage of items in the
baggage compartment need be transported. Where this priority results in
other passengers' baggage being unable to be carried on the flight, you
must make your best efforts to ensure that the other baggage reaches
the passengers' destination on the carrier's next flight to the
destination.
    (c) You must provide for the checking and timely return of
passengers' wheelchairs, other mobility aids, and other assistive
devices as close as possible to the door of the aircraft, so that
passengers may use their own equipment to the extent possible, except
    (1) Where this practice would be inconsistent with Federal
regulations governing transportation security or the transportation of
hazardous materials; or
    (2) When the passenger requests the return of the items at the
baggage claim area instead of at the door of the aircraft.
    (d) In order to achieve the timely return of wheelchairs, you must
ensure that passengers' wheelchairs, other mobility aids, and other
assistive devices are among the first items retrieved from the baggage
compartment.

Sec.  382.127  What procedures apply to stowage of battery-powered
mobility aids?

    (a) Whenever baggage compartment size and aircraft airworthiness
considerations do not prohibit doing so, you must, as a carrier, accept
a passenger's battery-powered wheelchair or other similar mobility
device, including the battery, as checked baggage, consistent with the
requirements of 49 CFR 175.10(a)(15) and (16) and the provisions of
paragraphs (b) through (f) of this section.
    (b) You may require that passengers with a disability wishing to
have battery-powered wheelchairs or other similar mobility devices
transported on a flight check in one hour before the check-in time for
the general public. If the passenger checks in after this time, you
must nonetheless carry the wheelchair or other similar mobility device
if you can do so by making a reasonable effort, without delaying the
flight.
    (c) If the battery on the passenger's wheelchair or other similar
mobility device has been labeled by the manufacturer as non-spillable
as provided in 49 CFR 173.159(d)(2), or if a battery-powered wheelchair
with a spillable battery can be loaded, stored, secured and unloaded in
an upright position, you must not require the battery to be removed and
separately packaged. Notwithstanding this requirement, you must remove
and package separately any battery that is inadequately secured to a
wheelchair or, for a spillable battery, is contained in a wheelchair
that cannot be loaded, stowed, secured and unloaded in an upright
position, in accordance with 49 CFR 175.10(a)(15) and (16). A damaged
or leaking battery should not be transported.
    (d) When it is necessary to detach the battery from the wheelchair,
you must, upon request, provide packaging for the battery meeting the
requirements of 49 CFR 175.10(a)(15) and (16) and package the battery.
You may refuse to use packaging materials or devices other than those
you normally use for this purpose.
    (e) You must not disconnect the battery on wheelchairs or other
mobility devices equipped with a non-spillable battery completely
enclosed within a case or compartment integral to the design of the
device unless an FAA or PHMSA safety regulation, or an applicable
foreign safety regulation having mandatory legal effect, requires you
to do so.
    (f) You must not drain batteries.

Sec.  382.129  What other requirements apply when passengers'
wheelchairs, other mobility aids, and other assistive devices must be
disassembled for stowage?

    (a) As a carrier, you must permit passengers with a disability to
provide written directions concerning the disassembly and reassembly of
their wheelchairs, other mobility aids, and other assistive devices.
You must carry out these instructions to the greatest extent feasible,
consistent with FAA, PHMSA, TSA, or applicable foreign government
requirements concerning security, safety, and hazardous materials with
respect to the stowage of carry-on items.
    (b) When wheelchairs, other mobility aids, or other assistive
devices are disassembled by the carrier for stowage, you must
reassemble them and ensure their prompt return to the passenger. You
must return wheelchairs, other mobility aids, and other assistive
devices to the passenger in the condition in which you received them.

Sec.  382.131  Do baggage liability limits apply to mobility aids and
other assistive devices?

    With respect to transportation to which 14 CFR Part 254 applies,
the limits to liability for loss, damage, or delay concerning
wheelchairs or other assistive devices provided in Part 254 do not
apply. The basis for calculating the compensation for a lost, damaged,
or

destroyed wheelchair or other assistive device shall be the original
purchase price of the device.

Sec.  382.133  What are the requirements concerning the evaluation and
use of passenger-supplied electronic devices that assist passengers
with respiration in the cabin during flight?

    (a) Except for on-demand air taxi operators, as a U.S. carrier
conducting passenger service you must permit any individual with a
disability to use in the passenger cabin during air transportation, a
ventilator, respirator, continuous positive airway pressure machine, or
an FAA-approved portable oxygen concentrator (POC) on all flights
operated on aircraft originally designed to have a maximum passenger
capacity of more than 19 seats, unless:
    (1) the device does not meet applicable FAA requirements for
medical portable electronic devices and does not display a
manufacturer's label that indicates the device meets those FAA
requirements, or
    (2) the device cannot be stowed and used in the passenger cabin
consistent with applicable TSA, FAA, and PHMSA regulations.
    (b) Except for foreign carriers conducting operations of a nature
equivalent to on-demand air taxi operations by a U.S. carrier, as a
foreign carrier conducting passenger service you must permit any
individual with a disability to use a ventilator, respirator,
continuous positive airway pressure machine, or portable oxygen
concentrator (POC) of a kind equivalent to an FAA-approved POC for U.S.
carriers in the passenger cabin during air transportation to, from or
within the United States, on all aircraft originally designed to have a
maximum passenger capacity of more than 19 seats unless:
    (1) The device does not meet requirements for medical portable
electronic devices set by the foreign carrier's government if such
requirements exist and/or it does not display a manufacturer's label
that indicates the device meets those requirements, or
    (2) The device does not meet requirements for medical portable
electronic devices set by the FAA for U.S. carriers and does not
display a manufacturer's label that indicates the device meets those
FAA requirements in circumstances where requirements for medical
portable electronic devices have not been set by the foreign carrier's
government and the foreign carrier elects to apply FAA requirements for
medical portable electronic devices, or
    (3) The device cannot be stowed and used in the passenger cabin
consistent with applicable TSA, FAA and PHMSA regulations, and the
safety or security regulations of the foreign carrier's government.
    (c) As a U.S. carrier, you must provide information during the
reservation process as indicated in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(6) of
this section upon inquiry from an individual concerning the use in the
cabin during air transportation of a ventilator, respirator, continuous
positive airway machine, or an FAA-approved POC. The following
information must be provided:
    (1) The device must be labeled by the manufacturer to reflect that
it has been tested to meet applicable FAA requirements for medical
portable electronic devices;
    (2) The maximum weight and dimensions (length, width, height) of
the device to be used by an individual that can be accommodated in the
aircraft cabin consistent with FAA safety requirements;
    (3) The requirement to bring an adequate number of batteries as
outlined in paragraph (f)(2) of this section and to ensure that extra
batteries carried onboard to power the device are packaged and
protected from short circuit and physical damage in accordance with
SFAR 106, Section 3 (b)(6);
    (4) Any requirement, if applicable, that an individual contact the
carrier operating the flight 48 hours before scheduled departure to
learn the expected maximum duration of his/her flight in order to
determine the required number of batteries for his/her particular
ventilator, respirator, continuous positive airway pressure machine, or
POC;