Air Carrier Access Act Technical Assistance Manual (2005)

C. Air Travelers with a Disability Changing Planes

As an employee of the delivering carrier, on request, you must provide assistance to a passenger with a disability in making flight connections and providing transportation between gates. [Sec. 382.39(a)] This is the case regardless whether the delivering carrier has an interline agreement with the other carrier. Where needed and to the extent required by law, you must provide services personnel, wheelchairs, and ramps or mechanical lifts. [Sec. 382.39(a)(1)] NOTE: Carriers must not leave a passenger with a disability unattended in a ground wheelchair or other device in which the passenger is not independently mobile for more than 30 minutes. [Sec. 382.39(a)(3)]

Example: A passenger who developed a progressive onset of weakness in his legs during his flight requests a wheelchair when he deplanes to assist him in making it over to the gate of his connecting flight. What should you do?

Because the delivering carrier has an obligation to provide transportation to a passenger with a disability to the gate of his connecting flight, you must provide timely, accessible ground transportation so he makes it to his connecting flight. In addition, you should keep in mind that once the wheelchair service is provided, you cannot leave the passenger unattended for more than 30 minutes if he is not independently mobile. As a matter of good customer service, you should treat the passenger with courtesy and respect throughout this process.