Improve Access to Air Travel for People with Disabilities

I write to urge you to cosponsor the Air Carrier Access Amendments Act (H.R. 1696/S. 642) to improve the air travel experience for passengers with disabilities. The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) prohibits discrimination based on disability in air travel. Although the ACAA improved access to air travel, people with disabilities regularly incur bodily harm in boarding and deplaning aircraft, and their wheelchairs, particularly power wheelchairs, are often damaged while stowed. Recently Engracia Figueroa, a disability activist, died as a result of injuries sustained after an airline damaged her custom wheelchair. Access to air travel must improve in order to ensure that people with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, are able to access employment, health care, and recreational opportunities in the same manner as other Americans. Please cosponsor H.R. 1696/S. 642 to strengthen ACAA administrative enforcement and establish a private right of action; ensure new airplanes are designed to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities by requiring airlines to meet defined accessibility standards; and require removal of access barriers on existing airplanes to the extent that it is readily achievable.