DOT Fines Delta $2M for Violating Air Travelers with Disabilities Rules
17 February 2011
The Decision
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) assessed a civil penalty of $2 million against Delta Air Lines for violating rules protecting air travelers with disabilities. The DOT said this civil penalty is the largest penalty ever assessed against an airline in a non-safety-related case. “Ensuring that passengers with disabilities receive fair treatment when they fly is a priority for the Department of Transportation,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We take our aviation disability rules seriously and will continue to enforce them vigorously.”
An investigation by the DOT’s Aviation Enforcement Office of disability complaints filed with Delta and the DOT revealed many violations of the requirement to provide assistance getting on and off the airplane. The carrier’s complaint files also showed that it frequently did not provide an adequate written response to disability complaints from passengers. The Aviation Enforcement Office further found that Delta also failed to properly report each disability complaint in reports filed with the Department.
The DOT requires airlines to provide assistance to passengers with disabilities while boarding and deplaning aircraft, including the use of wheelchairs, ramps, mechanical lifts and service personnel where needed. Carriers also must respond within 30 days to written complaints about their treatment of disabled passengers, and specifically address the issues raised in the complaints. In addition, airlines must properly code and record their disability-related complaints in connection with required reporting to the DOT.
Of the of $2 million penalty, $750,000 must be paid by the carrier and up to $1,250,000 may be used to improve its service to passengers with disabilities beyond what is required by law. Delta may target up to $834,000 of the civil penalty amount toward the development and implementation of an automated wheelchair tracking system at the carrier's major hub airports. Up to $236,000 may be used toward developing and distributing customer service surveys for passengers with disabilities to rate Delta’s accommodation services and provide specific feedback to the carrier on how it can improve.
In addition, up to $150,000 may be used to expand audits of the carrier’s compliance with Air Carrier Access Act rules and for consultation to help improve the quality of Delta’s services to passengers with disabilities at airports and up to $30,000 to enhance its website to improve air travel accessibility.
Delta's response
Delta states that it takes its responsibilities under the ACAA and Part 382 very seriously and values its customers with disabilities. Delta states that it has established industryleading programs for its customers with disabilities and continually strengthens its programs by creating new structures to oversee, manage, and enhance services provided to customers with disabilities. Delta believes that the new structures, together with other disability-program enhancements, demonstrate Delta's total commitment to its long-standing policy of full compliance with all applicable legal requirements. Delta states that the number of complaints Delta receives from customers with disabilities represents a miniscule fraction of the disability community Delta carries. According to Delta, to accomplish its policy objectives with respect to passengers with disabilities, it has committed and continues to commit substantial sums of money and other resources to the advancement and protection of the interests of its customers with disabilities. Delta notes that it has instituted numerous programs, systems, training enhancements, and procedures, which it continually expands and refines through cross-divisional teams and dedicated staff, in order to meet the needs of its customers with disabilities and to ensure compliance with all applicable requirements pertaining to travelers with disabilities. Delta also states that it has created strong relationships with organizations representing the disability community, including the establishment of an industry-leading advisory board composed of individuals representing a cross section of disabilities. In this regard, Delta points out that it has established a cross divisional Disability Compliance Council for the express
purpose of overseeing, managing, and improving all aspects of Delta's policies, procedures, and technologies to address the needs of passengers with disabilities.
Further to the formal response Delta have enlisted the Shepard Foundation to come to their defence
Statement in Regard to Delta Air Lines from James Shepherd, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Shepherd Center
February 17, 2011
In the early 1990s, Delta Air Lines began offering accessibility tours of its facilities and aircraft at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to teach Shepherd Center patients and their families — some of whom have never flown before — what to expect when they travel on Delta.
The company also helped Shepherd’s Therapeutic Recreation Department develop a travel class to educate and encourage patients about the independence that can be theirs once again when they travel. To alleviate travel anxiety, patients can practice transfers from their wheelchairs to airplane seats donated by Delta. The class trains patients in using a straight-back chair (used to make transfers on and off aircraft) and a hydraulic transfer chair – both donated by Delta. Recently, Delta supplier Harvaire Inc. donated to Shepherd a state-of-the-art Haycomp Eagle transfer hoist. This innovative technology allows people with mobility limitations to transfer to an aircraft seat with less hands-on assistance and more dignity than ever before. The travel class at Shepherd includes a visit to the airport to complete the training experience.
This interaction with Shepherd patients and staff provides great value to Delta, as well. The company’s service providers, agents and complaint resolution officials gain insight about accessibility issues in talking directly with Shepherd Center patients and families, as well as Shepherd therapists.
Furthermore, Delta has created a Customer Advisory Board on Disabilities to advise them on how to best serve travelers with disabilities and help them prevent or address and resolve any complaints related to violations of the Air Carriers Access Act. Shepherd Center’s director of advocacy, Mark Johnson, has been an active member of this board since 2009.
Shepherd Center is grateful to Delta for partnering with Shepherd Center to improve the lives of people with disabilities. And we are pleased that this partnership is helping Delta achieve its goals of making travel accessible for all its customers and becoming the airline of choice for customers with disabilities in every aspect of its business. We also appreciate the high level of support and incredible focus that Delta has placed on continuously improving its services to people with disabilities. It is reflected in Delta’s customer satisfaction rate, which exceeds 99 percent among travelers with disabilities
The Implications
The implications here are far reaching not just on just Delta, but in the way the Tourism industry faces up to the growing travelers with a disability market. As I have I said before the segment is currently worth 11% of the total tourism spend and by 2020 will be worth over 25% as the baby boomer population starts to retire and spends their accumulated wealth. On the surface of it Delta appear to have done the right thing, however, what seems to be apparent, without knowing the in's and out's of the organisation is that while there has been a lot done and a lot of money spent, it has been done so in a "special project" mentality. Cross divisional teams and special advisory boards are all add-ons and I really wonder just how much ownership Delta's board really has. How often do the advisory board make presentations to the board itself and where does the advisory board and other project teams sit within the Delta management structure. If inclusion is not fundamental within the corporate culture and fundamental in all staff training, as I bet customer focus is, then there will always be breakdowns in the application. Procedures will not change culture and too many procedures will always lead to staff not knowing what they are. All the spin in the world cant alter the fact that the regulator saw consistent breaches of the regulations and effectively said to Delta what you are doing is not effective.
Procedures and compliance will never replace a genuine interest in a group who are regarded as valuable customers. A culture of customer service will result in innovation and a care and understanding that would have seen staff actively making sure no one was left at the wrong gate, or left stranded on board the aircraft. Letters of complaint would have been responded to quickly in the hope of restoring faith of that customer in the airline. Further valuable customers are treated with respect and the aim is always to delight them beyond their expectations with the level of service they get.
Where a particular group is perceived as a compliance problem the opposite occurs and attempts to ensure compliance result in procedures and systems. In other words a traveler with a disability in those circumstances is no better than an oversized piece of luggage that requires "special" care. These systemic breaches that keep occurring within the airline industry will not be fixed until they adopt an inclusive culture and recognise that a traveler with a disability is just another valuable customer who should leave the destination airport terminal delighted with their experience.