(Sacramento, CA) - Disability Rights California (DRC) has submitted a comprehensive public comment letter to the Department of Transportation advocating for safe, dignified, and equitable air travel for individuals with disabilities.

The most recent disability data in air travel found 42,306 disability discrimination complaints, a staggering number.1 These complaints highlight a pressing need for action, which include refusing to allow disabled individuals to board an airplane, refusing to let a person with a disability travel without an attendant, refusing a service animal, failing to provide assistance required by law, damage to mobility devices like wheelchairs, canes, and walkers, safety concerns, and other barriers to flying.2  

DRC seeks to ensure air travel is: 1. Accessible, 2. Safe, 3. Dignified., and 4. Equitable for both non-disabled and disabled individuals.

Our advocacy efforts focus on protecting the disability community in California from air travel discrimination and ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their disabilities, have equal access to air travel.

In our public comment to the Department of Transportation, DRC emphasized the necessity of strengthening the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) to support a wide range of disabilities, not just wheelchair users. There are a wide variety of disabilities that will benefit from safe and dignified air travel. We recommend feasible and easy solutions that could be implemented to provide equal access for individuals in our community.

The high cost of air travel, combined with the many barriers faced by people with disabilities, means that not everyone can use air travel as a form of transit. However, all air travel options must be accessible to all, thus starting the process of ensuring the ACAA is updated is vital for U.S. air law to keep up with air travel opportunities for U.S. individuals.

DRC remains committed to continue work on the forefront of transportation equity issues. This includes new technological advances that we have seen a rapid increase in such as Regional Air Mobility, Small Aircraft Transportation Systems, and Air Taxis.  

We continue to advocate for transportation innovation that is inclusive, equitable, and affordable, emphasizing the need to lower cost barriers to ensure accessibility for all.

“As transportation inequalities continue to abound for our community, it is of utmost importance that we engage to protect and preserve all forms of travel to give individuals with disabilities autonomy and choice of movement. As a disabled individual who has experienced the lack of autonomy in air travel, these experiences push me to seek out innovative ways in which transportation can be made more affordable, accessible, and safe for those in my community,” says Kendra Muller, Staff Attorney, Disability Rights California

Media Contacts

Melody Pomraning
Communications Director
Disability Rights California
916-504-5938
Melody.Pomraning@disabilityrightsca.org

Disability Rights California (DRC) – Is the agency designated under federal law to protect and advocate for the rights of Californians with disabilities. The mission of DRC is to defend, advance, and strengthen the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities. 

• 1. 2022 Disability-Related Complaints Received for All Carriers (Oct. 19, 2023), U.S. Department of Transportation https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2023-10/2022-A%20All%20Carriers.pdf (last visited May 17, 2024). 
• 2. Id.at 6.