Air Carrier Access Act Technical Assistance Manual (2005)

Seating Accommodations for Passengers with a Disability Other than one of the Four Types Listed Above

Passengers with a disability – other than the types of passengers with a disability entitled to a seating accommodation in one of the four specific situations discussed above – may identify themselves as passengers with a disability and request a seating accommodation. [Sec. 382.38(c)]

In this case, a carrier employing the “block” method is not required to offer one of the “blocked” seats when the passenger with a disability makes a reservation more than 24 hours before the scheduled departure time of the flight. However, the carrier must assign the passenger with a disability any seat not already assigned to another passenger that accommodates the passenger’s needs, even if that seat is not available for assignment to the general passenger population at the time of the request. [Secs. 382.38(c)(1)(i) and (ii)]

Example: A passenger with arthritis in his spine making his back extremely stiff calls a week before his flight and asks you, the reservation agent, for a bulkhead seat. He explains that it is much easier for him to access a bulkhead seat because he has to be lowered into the seat with assistance from another person. The aircraft has six bulkhead seats, two of which are “blocked” under your carrier’s reservation system for passengers traveling with service animals or passengers with immobilized legs. One of the four remaining bulkhead seats is unassigned when he calls. What should you do?

Although your carrier normally reserves such seats for its frequent flier passengers, you must assign the remaining bulkhead seat to the passenger with arthritis in his spine.

In a similar situation, a carrier using the “priority” seating method must assign the passenger with a disability any seat not already assigned to another passenger that accommodates the passenger’s needs, even if that seat is not available for assignment to the general passenger population at the time of the request. If this passenger with a disability is assigned to a “priority” bulkhead seat, he/she is subject to being reassigned to another seat if necessary to provide a seating accommodation to a passenger with a disability entitled to a seating accommodation required under the law, as discussed above. [Sec. 382.38(c)(2)(i) and (ii)]

Example: Suppose the same passenger, with arthritis in his spine, in Example 1 above, calls your carrier, asking for a bulkhead seat, but your carrier uses the “priority” seating method. The aircraft has six bulkhead seats, two of which are “priority” seats for passengers traveling with service animals or passengers with immobilized legs. At the time of the call, all four of the other “non-priority” bulkhead seats have been assigned to other passengers, but the two “priority” seats are unassigned. What should you do?

You should assign the passenger with arthritis in his spine one of the two “priority” seats, but you must notify him that he may have his “priority” seat reassigned if another passenger who is entitled to a “priority” seat requests one. On the day of the flight, a passenger with a service animal and a passenger with a fused leg show up for the same flight and request bulkhead seats. In this instance, the passenger with arthritis in his spine would be informed that his “priority” seat must be assigned to one of those passengers and that he must be moved to another seat. As a matter of good customer service, he may be assigned an aisle seat because it would make it easier to access.