« ADA Amendments Act Goes to the White House for Signature | Main | NAD Celebrates as “ADA Amendments Act” Becomes Law »
NAD Advocates for Accessible Air Travel
By advocacy | September 23, 2008
Have you ever missed a flight because there was a gate change and no visual information was provided? Have you sat at a gate for hours wondering why your plane hasn’t boarded yet, because the only announcements made were over the loudspeaker? Have you landed in an unexpected location because your flight was diverted, and the announcement made was not accessible? Many deaf consumers have experienced these problems.
The NAD recently met with the U.S. Department of Transportation to discuss these matters and the new Air Carrier Access Act rules. During our meeting, it became clear that deaf and hard of hearing passengers need to communicate their concerns more often. In 2006, airlines received about 14,000 disability-related complaints, but only about 200 of these complaints were filed by deaf or deaf-blind individuals. The Department of Transportation received only 430 disability-related complaints in 2006 and only 480 disability-related complaints in 2007. (The Department of Transportation does not report the number of complaints filed by people who are deaf or deaf-blind.) The Department of Transportation can investigate complaints received and can enforce the laws that apply to airlines. When the Department does not hear from consumers, the Department does not know there are problems or where the problems are, so the problems continue.
You can help put an end to the communication access problems at airports and on airplanes. If you notify an airline that you need communication access accommodations (notification is required if you want accommodations) and the airline does not provide them, please file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation. For information about filing complaints, go to www.nad.org/aircarrierdiscrimination.
The NAD and the Department of Transportation also discussed captioning of in-flight entertainment, such as movies and other video programs. The current rules require only captioning of in-flight safety information, not captioning of in-flight entertainment. The NAD strongly urged the Department to establish rules requiring airlines to caption in-flight entertainment.
Topics: General |
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Thanks for the alert. We need to work on increase the filing of the complaints.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
What about other public transportation modes?
Amtrak? Commerical bus services?
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I went to New York City last Christmas and was at the Port Authority (the bus station). They had all the machines in place to make the announcements visual, but didn’t use it! Every time there was an announcement, the large scrolling monitors hanging from the ceiling were still black. Sad, huh?
September 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your advocacy efforts in this area. I always sign up for text alerts on flight and gate changes but once my phone went out and nothing was posted. I ended up having to ask the staff for any changes. Posted information would be very helpful and frankly, even people who hear would appreciate it since they may miss announcements.
What I really would love to see is captioning for the in flight media. Here’s a blog post that I wrote about my family’s experience: http://www.disaboom.com/Blogs/deafmom/archive/2008/05/16/captioning-on-the-airlines-we-ll-need-a-new-law.aspx
September 25th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
I notice that boarding numbers (sequence of boarding an aircraft) are announced by loudspeaker. I have to sneak looks at other passengers’ boarding passes until I find one with my number, then follow that person in –to avoid the embarassment of a dirty look if I board before my time (which actually happened).
They need to use flip charts for this. I advised it a few times to different airlines in the past . I was always thanked for the suggestion, but no result.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I notify the staff at the waiting-room counter, and also pay attention to the other passengers in the waiting-room alcove, as I can safely assume that we’re on the same flight. I also note the schedules posted onscreen. Since I can’t hear the PA boarding announcement, when everybody gets up and queues up, I follow them. Gate changes for postponed flights are especially frustrating (for one December flight I took last year, we had something like three gate changes, necessitating a trek to another floor of the terminal, and back again), but so far I haven’t missed a flight. I haven’t seen a flip chart anywhere! But I did get a signing airline staffer when, bewildered by a long, solitary wait for a repeatedly postponed flight, I asked what was going on.