14 CFR Part 382 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel (Air Carrier Access Act): Preamble and Section-by-Section Analysis (with amendments issued through July 2010)

382.93 Must carriers offer preboarding to passengers with a disability? Carrier must offer an opportunity for preboarding to passengers with a disability who self-identify at the gate as needing additional time or assistance to board, stow accessibility equipment, or be seated. This obligation exists regardless of the carriers’ preboarding policies for other persons (e.g., families with small children). Carriers are not required to make general announcements about preboarding in the gate area specifically for passengers with disabilities, where no preboarding announcements are made for other types of passengers. However, as a matter of general nondiscrimination principles, a carrier that makes a preboarding announcement in the gate area for other types or classes of passengers would have to make the announcement for persons with disabilities as well.