A New Rule Means Some People With Wheelchairs Can’t Fly On American Airlines

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John Morris in Bogota, Colombia.

Andrea Morris

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Andrea Morris

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Morris says he could not find the policy on American’s website but a representative he spoke to on the phone said the new weight limit began in June. «She told me that the airline had implemented this new policy because they were damaging a large number of power wheelchairs loading them onto regional aircraft, according to Morris. «And that in order to protect my wheelchair, they were no longer willing to accept it on board.

In 2018, the federal government started requiring an airline to report every time it damaged or lost a wheelchair. It turned out that was happening about 25 to 30 times a day — at least, before air travel fell during the coronavirus.

American Airlines has often had one of the worst rankings on those lists of airlines that damage or lose wheelchairs. In the most recent report from the Department of Transportation, for the month of July, American Airlines mishandled 1.95 percent of the wheelchairs and scooters it carried, ranking 16th of 17 airlines and only ahead of Spirit Air, which mishandled 3.57 percent.

Stacy Day, a spokesperson for American Airlines, told NPR that the new rule, which bars wheelchairs that weigh more than 300 pounds from the smaller regional jets, was a safety issue—to meet the cargo requirements of the aircraft. «We do everything we can to safely accommodate mobility devices across our operation, the spokesperson wrote. «Each aircraft type has specific cargo floor weight and door dimension restrictions that are established by the aircraft manufacturer.

To Morris, that didn’t make sense.

«My wheelchair has been carried on this exact flight on this same aircraft at the same airline so many times. Nothing has changed, he says. «Not on the wheelchair’s part. The aircraft hasn’t changed. The only thing that has changed is that the airline has made a decision to exclude me.

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John Morris’ wheelchair is loaded into an airplane.

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John Morris

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After NPR asked American Airlines about the limit, the airline’s spokesperson said the restriction would remain in place. But she said the airline had offered Morris an «apology and an accommodation: Next time, American Airlines said it would take the batteries off his wheelchair. That might get the chair under the 300-pound weight limit.

Day said the airline will work with passengers «on a case-by-case basis and that «in some instances, removing the batteries, which can weigh up to 50 pounds each, is a solution.

It may be a face-saving solution, since the wheelchair and the batteries would weigh the same in the cargo hold. And also a time consuming one that could lead to more reports of damage if the batteries don’t get reassembled properly.

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, Morris got to fly again. It took staff at American Airlines at the airport in Gainesville, forty-five minutes, he reported, to take the wheelchair apart.

He brought the owner’s manual and staff pulled up YouTube videos for how to take off the batteries, Morris says.

At his next destination, where he had a stopover before transferring to a larger jet, he said workers were confused why the chair had been taken apart and asked him to put the batteries back on himself. «I said, ‘I’m a triple amputee with one hand, I can’t put these 40, 50-pound batteries in the wheelchair and assemble it. All I can do is provide you with the instructions.'

The chair was reassembled and he got to his final destination, with one small part broken, Morris reported. But the hassle tested some of his love for airline adventure. «That has really impacted my enjoyment of travel, he said after he arrived at this hotel in Las Vegas, «and also it’s made traveling with my wheelchair significantly harder.