Air Carrier Access Act Technical Assistance Manual (2005)

Contractors

This manual recognizes the important role that contractors play in providing services, equipment, and other accommodations to passengers with disabilities. A contactor is an entity that has a business arrangement with an air carrier to perform functions that the ACAA and part 382 would otherwise require the air carrier to perform with its own employees. Contractors provide a variety of services on behalf of air carriers in furnishing assistance to persons with disabilities. For example, contractors often provide wheelchair service, assist passengers with disabilities on and off aircraft, transport passengers with disabilities between departure gates, and work as baggage handlers who handle passengers’ wheelchairs and other assistive devices. Contractors must provide the same services, equipment, and other accommodations required of an air carrier and its employees by the ACAA and part 382. As an employee of a contractor, you are therefore required to follow the mandates of the ACAA and part 382 when providing services, equipment, and other accommodations to passengers with disabilities. If you do not follow the mandates of the ACAA and part 382, the air carrier is subject to enforcement action by DOT for your failure.