Airports, Airlines Required to Comply with Accessibility Laws for Disabled

Published: Friday, October 07, 2011

By JERRY WOLFFE
Of The Oakland Press

Five disabled Metro-Detroit residents who sued both Northwest Airlines and the Wayne County Airport Authority in an effort to put an end to discrimination of disabled fliers who have been denied equal access to air travel and facilities, as required by law, have reached a settlement with the Airport Authority and Delta Airlines.

“I am so excited,” said Jill Babcock, a tax attorney who lives in Farmington and works for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

“I’m looking forward to my vacation in three weeks when I will fly to France and Spain. I don’t expect any more problems.”

Babcock, 40, has had her wheelchair broken several times in the past while taking flights out of Detroit Metro Airport.

The historic agreement requires Metro Airport and airlines, such as Delta which acquired Northwest, to train workers in disability etiquette as well as the details of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“It will include training on protocol on how to handle wheelchairs so they are not damaged by anyone working at the airlines,” said attorney Richard Bernstein who filed the original lawsuit in April 2008.

The agreement requires airports throughout the United States to follow the architectural guidelines of the ADA.

At Detroit Metro Airport, the Westin Hotel will be renovated so rooms, bathrooms and hallways are wheelchair accessible.

There will be 15 new curb cuts placed in appropriate places at the Detroit airport.

“This agreement covers everything from when you make a reservation to ground transportation, accessible buses from parking lots to terminals, stores, restaurants, shops and priority boarding” for those with disabilities, Bernstein said.

Any overseas-based airline that serves any city in the United States also must follow the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“If you fly from Detroit to Paris, then when you arrive in Paris, the airport must have workers who are trained to help those with disabilities and all facilities must be accessible to the disabled,” Bernstein said.

In addition, any airline that lands in the United States must follow all provisions of equality and accessibility of the ADA, he added.

“This isn’t just great for people with disabilities but it will be fantastic for seniors who travel,” Bernstein said.

“Airlines and airport employees are going to make sure that people with disabilities are not going to have any problems when traveling,” he said.

Bernstein, who is blind, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Detroit, seeking an end to Northwest and the Airport Authority’s failure to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Air Carrier Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

According to an order recently signed by U.S. District Judge George Carom Steed and an action plan agreed to by all parties, Delta and the Airport Authority will make significant modifications — and in some cases already have — to Detroit Metro Airport’s McNamara Terminal, North Terminal, parking garages, Westin Hotel and Airport shuttle buses, in order to legally accommodate disabled passengers.

The plaintiffs and defendants have also agreed to dismiss the lawsuit.

“This is a bright new day for airline travel for those with disabilities,” said Bernstein.