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61st Co-Chair O’Connell Offers Travel Tips
Recently, for the first time, I had a problem with a flight attendant who made me move with my guide dog from a normal first-class seat to a bulkhead seat in first class. I believe that one or more of our some 200 blinded vets traveling to Buffalo in August could have the same unfortunate experience.
The attendant claimed that her actions were justified by a Federal Aviation Administration regulation. She told me that if I did not move, she would have me removed from the aircraft and arrested. I told her she was wrong but complied because I did not know what to do or how to prove that her assertion was false.
Upon my return home, I got online and contacted the FAA with my problem. The next business day, the U.S. Department of Transportation called me. The woman with whom I spoke asked me to send either a letter or an email message about what occurred. She gave me some good advice on what to do if a similar scenario ever arises again.
Perhaps most importantly, I was advised that the FAA deals only with safety issues, which was not an issue in my case. In addition, if blind individuals have a problem with any carrier personnel with regard to their disability while at the airport or on the aircraft, they may request that the Complaint Resolution Official (CRO) be contacted. This includes problems with flight attendants.
The carrier must make a CRO available during all hours in which company flights are operating. Telephone availability, at no cost to the passenger, is required if the CRO is not present in person at the airport at the time of the complaint.
If the carrier refuses to provide a CRO, either in person or by telephone, the offended party should call the federal Department of Transportation hotline at 800-778-4838. This toll-free number is run by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division and is answered from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. EDT. When calling, inform the hotline operator of the problem. He or she will then contact a DOT duty officer to assist in resolving the disability-related complaint.
The hotline is also available to answer questions regarding an individual’s rights under the Air Carrier Access Act and the Act’s implementing rules, 14 CFR 382, when traveling on commercial carriers. A copy of these rules must be located at all airports used by the carrier. Upon request, the carrier must make the document available for review by persons with disabilities, or it can be obtained through DOT using the following postal address information: Department of Transportation, Consumer Protection, Room 4107, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. The office’s email address is airconsumer@dot.gov.
It is best to try to resolve disability-related issues as soon as possible after they arise. Once a flight departs a gate, a CRO will not be made available until the plane either returns to the gate or lands at its next destination. It’s pretty hard for a plane to pull over and stop at 36,000 feet!
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