Department of Transportation Called Upon to Enforce Requirements Regulating Provision of Air Travel to People with Disabilities

CONTACT:
Michelle.Uzeta@pai-ca.org; 213.427.8747

LOS ANGELES (June 28, 2007) -- Protection and Advocacy, Inc., joined a number of disability rights organizations today in supporting a Department of Transportation complaint filed by two Aero Port Services (APS) employees with the assistance of the Service Employees International Union, Local 1877. The complaint is based on the failure of APS to provide its employees with training in the provision of air travel to individuals with disabilities, including the proper and safe operation of wheelchairs. Such training is required under federal law. The complaint also alleges that APS has failed to provide employees with equipment enabling the safe transporting of individuals with disabilities.

“Travelers with disabilities who use wheelchairs experience significant barriers in air travel – we hear horror stories all the time,” said Michelle Uzeta, an attorney with Protection and Advocacy, Inc., the largest disability rights firm in California. According to 2005 and 2006 Department of Transportation reports on “Disability-Related Air Travel Complaints,” nearly two-thirds of complaints filed against U.S. airlines by air travelers with disabilities involve wheelchairs. Uzeta added, “In California, providing adequate training to airport personnel and safe, effective equipment for traveler use would go a long way in removing those barriers.”

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Protection and Advocacy, Inc. is a private non-profit disability rights agency established under federal law in 1978 to protect, advocate for and advance the human, legal and service rights of Californians with disabilities. PAI works in partnership with people with disabilities, striving towards a society which values all people and supports their rights to dignity, freedom, choice and quality of life.