Paralyzed Veterans of America sent a petition to the Department of Transportation to initiate rulemaking authority that would implement improved standards and requirements for boarding and deplaning airline passengers with mobility impairments.

In the petition, PVA – represented by Democracy Forward – urged the DOT to address issues related to the transfer of passengers into and out of aisle chairs, the duty of air carriers to maintain information about issues that occur during the boarding and deplaning process, and the air carriers’ responsibilities when wheelchairs or other assistive devices are damaged, delayed, or lost. 

Joint Statement

Moments after submitting the petition, PVA National President Charles Brown and Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman released the following statement: 

“People with mobility impairments are subject to inhumane treatment at every turn of their air travel journey. Required accommodations remain woefully inadequate despite thousands of complaints from passengers and a Congressional mandate outlined in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Reauthorization Act of 2018. We submitted a petition to the Department of Transportation today to call attention to the countless issues that must be addressed to ensure safe and equitable access to air travel for all people. While the Department has taken important steps to address problems related to air travel for passengers with mobility disabilities, they must go farther to establish more stringent requirements for the boarding and deplaning processes – processes that can affect the health and dignity of passengers with mobility impairments. Our petition underscores just how much more must be done to improve air travel and bring it up to the level we deserve.” 

PVA’s petition comes just 3 months after the death of disability rights activist Engracia Figuero, whose power wheelchair was destroyed during a flight, forcing her to spend weeks in a loaner chair, which reportedly caused a fatal pressure sore. It also comes on the heels of PVA’s recent air travel campaign, which educated the public about the dangers of air travel for people with disabilities and continues to encourage them to join their fight to improve air travel by signing a PVAction Force petition.

Read the full Department of Transportation petition for rulemaking here.

[Source(s): Paralyzed Veterans of America, PR Newswire]