Disability Law Index - Air Carrier Access Act: Administrative Provisions

Regulations:

14 C.F.R. § 382.141  What training are carriers required to provide for their personnel?

(a)  As a carrier that operates aircraft with 19 or more passenger seats, you must provide training, meeting the requirements of this paragraph, for all personnel who deal with the traveling public, as appropriate to the duties of each employee.

(1) You must ensure training to proficiency concerning:

(i) The requirements of this Part and other applicable Federal regulations affecting the provision of air travel to passengers with a disability;

(ii) Your procedures, consistent with this Part, concerning the provision of air travel to passengers with a disability, including the proper and safe operation of any equipment used to accommodate passengers with a disability; and

(iii) For those personnel involved in providing boarding and deplaning assistance, the use of the boarding and deplaning assistance equipment used by the carrier and appropriate boarding and deplaning assistance procedures that safeguard the safety and dignity of passengers.

(2) You must also train such employees with respect to awareness and appropriate responses to passengers with a disability, including persons with physical, sensory, mental, and emotional disabilities, including how to distinguish among the differing abilities of individuals with a disability.

(3) You must also train these employees to recognize requests for communication accommodation from individuals whose hearing or vision is impaired and to use the most common methods for communicating with these individuals that are readily available, such as writing notes or taking care to enunciate clearly, for example.  Training in sign language is not required.  You must also train these employees to recognize requests for communication accommodation from deaf-blind passengers and to use established means of communicating with these passengers when they are available, such as passing out Braille cards if you have them, reading an information sheet that a passenger provides, or communicating with a passenger through an interpreter, for example.

(4) You must consult with organizations representing persons with disabilities in your home country when developing your training program and your policies and procedures.  If such organizations are not available in your home country, you must consult with individuals with disabilities and/or international organizations representing individuals with disabilities.

(5) You must ensure that all personnel who are required to receive training receive refresher training on the matters covered by this section, as appropriate to the duties of each employee, as needed to maintain proficiency.  You must develop a program that will result in each such employee receiving refresher training at least once every three years.  The program must describe how employee proficiency will be maintained.

(6) You must provide, or ensure that your contractors provide, training to the contractors' employees concerning travel by passengers with a disability. This training is required only for those contractor employees who deal directly with the traveling public, and it must be tailored to the employees' functions.  Training for contractor employees must meet the requirements of paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(5) of this section. 

(7) The employees you designate as CROs, for purposes of §382.151 of this Part, must receive training concerning the requirements of this Part and the duties of a CRO.

(8) Personnel subject to training required under this Part, who are already employed on [insert effective date of this Part], must be trained one time in the changes resulting from the reissuance of this Part.

(b)  If you are a carrier that operates only aircraft with fewer than 19 passenger seats, you must provide training for flight crewmembers and appropriate personnel to ensure that they are familiar with the matters listed in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section and that they comply with the requirements of this Part.

14 C.F.R. §382.143  When must carriers complete training for their personnel?

(a)  As a U.S. carrier, you must meet the training requirements of §382.141 by the following times.

(1) Employees designated as CROs shall receive training concerning the requirements of this Part and the duties of a CRO before assuming their duties under §382.151 (see §382.141(a)(7)).  You must ensure that all employees performing the CRO function receive annual refresher training concerning their duties and the provisions of this regulation.  The one-time training for CROs about the changes to Part 382 must take place by [insert effective date of this Part].  For employees who have already received CRO training, this training may be limited to changes from the previous version of Part 382.

(2) The one-time training for existing employees about changes to Part 382 (see §382.141(a)(8)) must take place as part of the next scheduled recurrent training after [insert effective date of this Part] for each such employee or within one year after [insert effective date of this Part], whichever comes first.

(3) For crewmembers subject to training requirements under 14 CFR Part 121 or 135 whose employment in any given position commences after [insert effective date of this Part], before they assume their duties; and

(4) For other personnel whose employment in any given position commences after [insert effective date of this Part], within 60 days after the date on which they assume their duties.

(b) As a foreign carrier that operates aircraft with 19 or more passenger seats, you must provide training meeting the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section for all personnel who deal with the traveling public in connection with flights that begin or end at a U.S. airport, as appropriate to the duties of each employee.  You must ensure that personnel required to receive training complete the training by the following times:

(1) Employees designated as CROs shall receive training in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section, by [insert effective date of this Part].

(2) For crewmembers and other personnel who are employed on [insert effective date of this Part], within one year  after that date;

(3) For crewmembers whose employment commences after [insert date one year after the effective date of this Part], before they assume their duties;

(4) For other personnel whose employment in any given position commences after [insert date one year after the effective date of this Part], or a date within 60 days after the date on which they assume their duties; and

(5) For crewmembers and other personnel whose employment in any given position commences after [insert effective date of this Part], but before [insert date one year after the effective date of this Part], by [insert date one year after the effective date of this Part] or a date 60 days after the date of their employment, whichever is later.

§382.145    What records concerning training must carriers retain?

(a) As a carrier that operates aircraft with 19 or more passenger seats, you must incorporate procedures implementing the requirements of this Part in the manuals or other guidance or instructional materials provided for the carrier and contract personnel who provide services to passengers, including, but not limited to, pilots, flight attendants, reservation and ticket counter personnel, gate agents, ramp and baggage handling personnel, and passenger service office personnel.  You must retain these records for review by the Department on the Department's request.  If, upon such review, the Department determines that any portion of these materials must be changed in order to comply with this Part, DOT will direct you to make appropriate changes.  You must incorporate and implement these changes

(b) You must retain for three years individual employee training records demonstrating that all persons required to receive initial and refresher training have done so.

Case Law:

Private Right of Action (to sue) exists under Air Carrier Access Act:

  • Tallarico v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 881 F.2d 566, 570 (8th Cir.1989).
  • Shinault v. Am. Airlines, 936 F.2d 796, 800 (5th Cir.1991)

No Private Right of Action Exists:

Consent Orders:

2002-12-4 Consent Order (Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd) - Violations of 49 U.S.C. Section 41705 and 14 CFR Part 382
This order concerns violations by Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd (Israir) of the requirements of 14 CFR Part 382 (Part 382), with respect to filing annual reports detailing disability-related complaints that the foreign air carrier received from passengers in calendar years 2004 and 2005.