DALLAS—The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) continues to advocate for improved air travel accessibility for wheelchair users, as highlighted by Paul Melmeyer, executive vice president of public policy and advocacy at MDA, during the 2025 MDA Clinical & Scientific Conference.
On December 17, 2024, the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) finalized a rule that enhances air travel experiences for wheelchair users. MDA played a significant role in shaping this regulation by sharing experiences from the neuromuscular disease community and providing recommendations.
“Working with the DOT, we were also able to . . . promulgate some rules that protect the safety and dignity of those who are wheelchair users in air travel—one of the most currently inaccessible experiences that . . . wheelchair users experience,” Melmeyer said.
This rule includes several provisions, such as:
- Safe and dignified assistance for individuals requiring accommodations.
- Assistance with boarding, deplaning, connecting flights and airport navigation.
- Return of wheelchairs and assistive devices in the same condition they were received.
- Requirement of airline notifications regarding wheelchair throughout the flight experience.
- Publication of aircraft cargo hold dimensions.
- Transportation of delayed wheelchairs or scooters to the passenger’s final destination within 24 hours, along with reimbursement for related transportation costs.
- Replacement or repair of damaged wheelchairs or scooters, with airlines covering costs for loaner wheelchairs.
- Reimbursement for passengers whose wheelchairs do not fit in the cabin or cargo hold, covering the difference between their actual flight and the one they could have taken.
- Safe and adequate seating for passengers waiting for their personal or loaned wheelchairs.
- Annual training for airline employees and contractors assisting passengers with mobility disabilities or handling wheelchairs.
- Improved standards for onboard wheelchairs on twin-aisle planes.
Earlier in 2024, the MDA contributed to accessible air travel reforms in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2024, signed into law on May 16. This legislation mandates the development of a research program within one year to evaluate the feasibility of accommodating WC19-compliant wheelchairs on aircraft. The initiative will involve collaboration with multiple organizations to assess FAA crashworthiness and safety performance standards. It will also explore options for allowing passengers to remain in their personal wheelchairs or access designated seating in the main cabin.
Further strengthening disability rights, MDA also recently worked with multiple organizations to facilitate the first updates to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in 50 years.
“Within the last year, we as a community enacted some of the most meaningful reforms to accessible air travel in 35 years,” Melmeyer said.
