The U.S. Division of Transportation could be required to report on the quantity and kind of disability-related complaints it receives in opposition to airways below a proposed invoice. (Thinkstock)
As airways face an rising variety of disability-related complaints, new laws would be sure that the general public is aware of extra in regards to the issues vacationers with disabilities are encountering and the way they’re resolved.
A bipartisan invoice launched this month within the U.S. Senate would require the Division of Transportation to publish an annual report disclosing the variety of complaints the company has acquired within the earlier 5 years associated to passengers with disabilities and the character of the complaints.
The report would additionally must element the evaluate course of for such complaints and the way shortly every one was reviewed and addressed.
Commercial – Proceed Studying Beneath
At current, the Transportation Division shouldn’t be required to report on the quantity and kind of incapacity complaints it receives associated to air journey. However, a Authorities Accountability Workplace report final 12 months confirmed that issues are ballooning with 1,394 disability-related complaints lodged in 2021, which is 157% greater than in 2020 and 54% larger than in 2019.
The senators behind the brand new invoice proposal mentioned that vacationers with disabilities routinely encounter points starting from untrained workers to broken or misplaced wheelchairs and passenger accidents.
“For too lengthy, carriers have gotten away with predatory practices that view passengers with disabilities as disposable,” mentioned Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ailing., one of many invoice’s sponsors. “By stopping disability-related complaints from being swept below the rug, our bipartisan invoice would shine a light-weight on these issues and assist be sure that the hundreds of thousands of passengers with disabilities who fly yearly are handled with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
Duckworth launched the invoice often known as the Prioritizing Accountability and Accessibility for Aviation Customers Act of 2023 with Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.
Learn extra tales like this one. Join Incapacity Scoop’s free e mail e-newsletter to get the newest developmental incapacity information despatched straight to your inbox.
