American Airlines fined $50 million for mistreating passengers with disabilities

DALLAS (AP) — The U.S. government fined American Airlines $50 million for failing to provide wheelchair assistance to passengers with disabilities and damaging thousands of wheelchairs over five years.

The Transportation Ministry said Wednesday that “in some cases” wheelchair users had been injured, but did not give an exact number.

American said it has made significant investments to improve wheelchair handling. According to a plea agreement, the airline will be awarded $25 million, or half of its civil penalty, for those investments and compensation paid to affected passengers.

The incidents reported by the Department of Transportation occurred between 2019 and 2023.

The investigation was prompted in part by three formal complaints filed against American by the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Investigators also seized video of an incident at Miami International Airport last year. Workers slid a wheelchair down a luggage ramp. It hit the bottom of the slide, rolled over and slid across the concrete.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said American Airlines “appears to be one of the worst offenders” but that the problems found by investigators were “not isolated to any one airline.” He said the department was conducting similar investigations at other airlines, but he would not identify them by name.

“The era of tolerating poor treatment of wheelchair users on airplanes is over,” Buttigieg told reporters.

Buttigieg said Americans’ mistreatment of travelers with disabilities was “not only undignified, but unsafe.”

Carl Blake, the CEO of Paralyzed Veterans of America, praised the department’s actions.

“We are pleased to see the DOT make such a strong statement about how it will hold airlines accountable for endangering the well-being of passengers with disabilities, particularly wheelchair and scooter users,” Blake said in a statement. “We are confident that this unprecedented enforcement will make clear to the entire aviation industry that passengers with mobility impairments deserve to travel with the same level of safety and dignity as everyone else.”

According to the Department of Transportation, Americans mistreated more than 10,760 wheelchairs and electric scooters from 2019 to 2023.

Only Southwest Airlines had more incidents, with more than 11,100.

According to the department, Spirit Airlines had its highest error rate in several years.

American said it invested more than $175 million this year in infrastructure, training and other measures to improve the travel experience for people with disabilities.

American said it has reduced the rate of mishandling of wheelchairs and scooters by more than 20%, and fewer than one in 1,000 customers who request wheelchair assistance ultimately complain to the airline.

The penalty for American is far harsher than what the Transportation Department has imposed on other airlines that it says have violated laws protecting travelers with disabilities. The previous record fine against United Airlines was $2 million in 2016, reduced to $700,000 after United received credit for passenger compensation and other expenses.

Department officials said the size of the fine imposed on American reflected the large number of incidents that included damaging wheelchairs or delaying them in returning them to passengers after flights.

Federal regulations require airlines to return wheelchairs and scooters to customers quickly and undamaged after flights and to help passengers with disabilities get around airports and get on and off planes. Airlines must pay for repairs or replacement of damaged wheelchairs, but advocates say that can leave users without a suitable means of transportation for weeks.

The penalty against American follows the Transportation Department’s proposed rule that it is a violation of federal law for airlines to damage wheelchairs or fail to promptly return them to their owners. The rule would also require annual training for airline employees who operate wheelchairs or transport passengers with disabilities. Buttigieg said the rule was being finalized, but he did not provide a timeline for completion.

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