(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section and §§ 382.75 and 382.133(e)(4), (5), (f)(5) and (6), as a carrier you must not require a passenger with a disability to provide advance notice in order to obtain services or accommodations required by this part.
(b)
(1) You may require a passenger with a disability to provide up to 72 hours' advance notice and check in one hour before the check-in time for the general public to receive carrier-supplied in-flight medical oxygen on international flights, and 48 hours' advance notice and check-in one hour before the check-in time for the general public to receive carrier-supplied in-flight medical oxygen on domestic flights. This service is optional; you are not required to provide carrier-supplied in-flight medical oxygen, but you may choose to do so.
(2) You may require a passenger with a disability to provide 48 hours' advance notice and check-in one hour before the check-in time for the general public to use his/her ventilator, respirator, CPAP machine or POC.
(3) You may require a passenger with a disability seeking to travel with a service animal in the cabin of the aircraft to provide up to 48 hours' advance notice through submission of the forms identified in § 382.75 (a) and (b) as a condition of permitting the service animal to travel in the cabin if the reservation is made more than 48 hours prior to a flight's departure. In the alternative, you may require a passenger with a disability seeking to travel with a service animal in the cabin of the aircraft to provide the forms identified in § 382.75 (a) and (b) at the passenger's departure gate on the date of travel as a condition of permitting the service animal to travel in the cabin.
(c) You may require a passenger with a disability to provide up to 48 hours' advance notice and check in one hour before the check-in time for the general public to receive the following services and accommodations. The services listed in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(3) of this section are optional; you are not required to provide them, but you may choose to do so.
(1) Carriage of an incubator;
(2) Hook-up for a respirator, ventilator, CPAP machine or POC to the aircraft electrical power supply;
(3) Accommodation for a passenger who must travel in a stretcher;
(4) Transportation for an electric wheelchair on an aircraft with fewer than 60 seats;
(5) Provision of hazardous materials packaging for batteries or other assistive devices that are required to have such packaging;
(6) Accommodation for a group of ten or more qualified individuals with a disability, who make reservations and travel as a group; and
(7) Provision of an on-board wheelchair on an aircraft with more than 60 seats that does not have an accessible lavatory.
(8) Accommodation of a passenger who has both severe vision and hearing impairments (see § 382.29(b)(4)).
(d) If the passenger with a disability provides the advance notice you require, consistent with this section, for a service that you must provide (see paragraphs (b)(2) through (3) and (c)(4) through (8) of this section) or choose to provide (see paragraphs (b)(1) and (c)(1) through (c)(3) of this section), you must provide the requested service or accommodation except to comply with any applicable safety regulations.
(e) Your reservation and other administrative systems must ensure that when passengers provide the advance notice that you require, consistent with this section, for services and accommodations, the notice is communicated, clearly and on time, to the people responsible for providing the requested service or accommodation.
(f) If a passenger with a disability provides the advance notice you require, consistent with this section, and the passenger is forced to change to another flight (e.g., because of a flight cancellation), you must, to the maximum extent feasible, provide the accommodation on the new flight. If the new flight is another carrier's flight, you must provide the maximum feasible assistance to the other carrier in providing the accommodation the passenger requested from you.
(g) If a passenger does not meet advance notice or check-in requirements you establish consistent with this section, you must still provide the service or accommodation if you can do so by making reasonable efforts, without delaying the flight.
[Doc. No. DOT-OST-2018-0068, 85 FR 79774, Dec. 10, 2020]