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)

7. Seating Accommodations

In the Oxygen NPRM, we asked whether a passenger who uses a ventilator, respirator, CPAP machine or an FAA-approved POC should be given priority over users of other types of electronic equipment that are not assistive devices (e.g., laptops) with respect to obtaining power for the device from the aircraft’s electrical outlets. Virtually all of the consumer comments stated that upon request airlines should be required to seat a passenger who self identifies as using an electronic respiratory assistive device next to an electrical outlet, if one is available on the aircraft. Industry comments on this issue varied. Some carriers supported providing priority seating while other industry commenters opposed this proposal. The industry commenters that opposed providing priority seating asserted that access to seats with electrical outlets is an aircraft amenity based on other considerations (e.g., frequent flier status) and explained that the cost of ensuring access to electric outlets is burdensome. Some of the costs attributed to implementing the proposed seating accommodation include the cost to a carrier of updating its seating maps to indicate the presence of electric outlets, updating its reservation system to allow blocking of seats near outlets for qualified disabled passengers, and training flight attendants and others regarding the location of each aircraft’s electrical outlets. Also, as noted above, many industry comments emphasized that not all aircraft have outlets and the unreliability of electrical outlets on aircraft that do have them (e.g., outlets turned off during take off and landing, outlets often don’t have sufficient wattage to power respiratory devices).

The Department is not convinced by the industry arguments opposing priority seating on the basis of costs associated with such a seating accommodation but is convinced that, for safety reasons, it would not be good policy to have any requirements concerning the use of electrical outlets when electrical outlets are not available on a number of aircraft and are generally not reliable sources of power for electronic respiratory assistive devices. Therefore, this rule does not mandate that carriers allow users of respiratory assistive devices to plug their devices into the aircraft’s power supply or to provide priority seating near such outlets. The Department does encourage carriers to permit passengers to hook up the four types of respiratory assistive devices to the aircraft electrical power supply in circumstances where the carrier is confident that the electrical outlet on the aircraft is reliable (e.g., uninterrupted service).