American Airlines Fined $50 Million Over Failing To Aid Passengers Using Wheelchairs

DALLAS (AP) The U.S. government fined American Airlines $50 million for failing to provide wheelchair assistance to passengers with disabilities and damaging thousands of wheelchairs over a five-year period.

The Transportation Department said Wednesday that in some cases, wheelchair users were injured, but it did not give a number.

American said it has made significant investments to improve the handling of wheelchairs . The airline will be credited $25 million, or half of its civil penalty, for those investments and compensation paid to affected passengers, according to a consent order.

The incidents raised by the Transportation Department occurred between 2019 and 2023.

The investigation was prompted in part by three formal complaints the Paralyzed Veterans of America filed against American.

Investigators also seized on video of an incident at Miami International Airport last year. Workers slid a wheelchair down a baggage ramp . It crashed into the bottom of the chute, flipped over and skittered across the concrete.

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