DOT fines American Airlines $50 million for wheelchair damage

The Department of Transportation issued a $50 million fine against American Airlines Wednesday for mistreating passengers with disabilities.
According to the DOT, American had the worst track record of major U.S. airlines for damaging wheelchairs and other mobility devices between 2019 and 2023, and also performed poorly in providing prompt wheelchair assistance and dignified transfers for passengers with disabilities. One incident the DOT highlighted was a November 2023 episode during which American baggage handlers dropped a wheelchair down a baggage ramp.
“The era of tolerating poor treatment of airline passengers with disabilities is over,” DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “With this penalty, we are setting a new standard of accountability for airlines that violate the civil rights of passengers with disabilities. By setting penalties at levels beyond a mere cost of doing business for airlines, we’re aiming to change how the industry behaves and prevent these kinds of abuses from happening in the first place.”
Paralyzed Veterans of America, which the Department of Transportation said was responsible for three of the complaints against American that were investigated, praised the DOT’s ruling.
“We are pleased to see DOT making such a strong statement for how it will hold airlines accountable for jeopardizing the well-being of passengers with disabilities, particularly wheelchair and scooter users. We are confident this unprecedented enforcement will make it clear to the entire airline industry that passengers with mobility disabilities deserve to travel with the same level of safety and dignity as everyone else,” PVA CEO Carl Blake said in a statement.
American Airlines acknowledged the fine and said it is committed to improving. In fact, it noted that it has ramped up accessibility investments since well before the DOT issued its fine.
“This year, American invested over $175 million in service, infrastructure and training to improve the travel experience for customers traveling with wheelchairs or other mobility devices,” Julie Rath, American’s Senior Vice President of Airport Operations, Reservations and Service Recovery, said in a statement. “Today’s agreement reaffirms American’s commitment to taking care of all of our customers.”
The airline emphasized that it had a 22% improvement in the number of wheelchair mishandling incidents from September 2022 to September 2024. Its investments include the ability for customers to get a wheelchair tag generated automatically rather than relying on handwritten documentation for checked mobility devices. The airline is also investing in better mobility device handling equipment at many of its airports and improved training for its team members who handle mobility devices and interact with passengers with disabilities. Many advocates have said that improved and increased training is an important step for airlines to take.
“When you get right down to it we want our customers to feel 100% cared for on their travel journey,” Rath told USA TODAY in an interview. “We are focused on getting better and better. We’re not going to stop until we down to zero wheelchair incidents.”
The DOT said it has ongoing investigations into similar issues at other airlines, but officials did not indicate when those would be concluded or what penalties may result.
U.S. airlines typically damage 10,000-15,000 wheelchairs per year, and while that equates to less than 1.5% of the total number of mobility devices they transport, it’s a huge issue for the affected travelers.
“If you need a particular type of wheelchair equipment and the airline damages or destroys your wheelchair, that doesn’t just ruin your trip, that can affect you at home after your trip has ended, in some cases for weeks or worse,” Buttigieg said during a press call announcing the fine.
Over the course of 2023, USA TODAY spoke to more than 30 travelers whose mobility devices were damaged or destroyed by U.S. airlines, and many said the process of waiting for repairs or replacements took months, often leaving them homebound in the meantime.
One traveler who was affected said the wheelchair damage resulted in having to stay home from work for two weeks. “Two weeks of work is food out of my children’s mouth,” they said.
Many affected travelers also expressed that having their wheelchairs damaged was like having their legs broken by an airline while they were traveling, and said it would be obviously unacceptable if travelers who did not rely on wheelchairs had a 1.5% chance of losing their mobility after a flight.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at [email protected].