The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) is Title 49, Section 41705 of the

U.S. Code In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...

. The Act amended the earlier section 404(b) of the

Federal Aviation Act of 1958 The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was an act of the United States Congress, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, that created the Federal Aviation Agency (later the Federal Aviation Administration or the FAA) and abolished its predecessor, t ...

(FAA), which was repealed by the

Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Boa ...

. The ACAA prohibits commercial

airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...

from discriminating against passengers with disabilities. The act was passed by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

in direct response to a narrow interpretation of

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is American legislation that guarantees certain rights to people with disabilities. It was one of the first U.S. federal civil rights laws offering protection for people with disabilities. It set preced ...

of 1973 by the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

in ''

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

(DOT) v.

Paralyzed Veterans of America The Paralyzed Veterans of America is a veterans' service organization in the United States of America, founded in 1946. The organization holds 33 chapters and 70 National Service Offices in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is based in Washin ...

(PVA)''. In ''PVA'', the Supreme Court held that private, commercial air carriers are not liable under Section 504 because they are not "direct recipients" of

federal funding In the United States, federal assistance, also known as federal aid, federal benefits, or federal funds, is defined as any federal program, project, service, or activity provided by the federal government that directly assists domestic governme ...

to airports. The Act was construed to contain an implied

private right of action A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a p ...

. However, in 2001, the

decided '' Alexander v. Sandoval'', which held that federal courts may not find an implied private right unless a statute gives explicit indication that Congress intended to bestow such a right. In 2004, the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Distri ...

followed the lead of the

US Court of Appeals The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...

for the Eleventh Circuit, which relied on the ''Sandoval'' decision to hold that the Act can only be enforced by filing an administrative complaint with the DOT. In 2013, the DOT provided new rules requiring all domestic and foreign air carriers to have accessible websites and kiosks. By December 12, 2015, the core functionality of all air carrier's websites needed to be accessible, and by December 12, 2016, the remaining web pages were required to be accessible. In 2022, it was announced that the DOT had published the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights. It (as stated by the DOT) “describes the fundamental rights of air travelers with disabilities under the Air Carrier Access Act and its implementing regulation, 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 382.” Since this act prohibits airlines from discriminating against passengers with disabilities, they must allow them to bring along their service animals. In recent years, people were taking advantage of this act.

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

released the statistic that they had seen an 84% increase in animal incidents. Not all of the disability animals that came through the doors of Delta Air Lines, however, were actually service animals. Since December 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) does not include emotional support animals in the Air Carrier Access Act, which is the act that allows service animals to fly on airplanes if they meet requirements. Before December 2020, they did include emotional support animals in their definition of service animals (US Department of Transportation, 2020).

Notes

Aviation law Anti-discrimination law in the United States United States federal disability legislation United States federal civil rights legislation United States federal transportation legislation United States federal legislation articles without infoboxes 1986 in American law 1986 in law {{US-fed-statute-stub