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American Airlines has lifted its weight limit on wheelchairs.
Over the summer, the airline created a rule preventing wheelchairs heavier than 300 or 400 pounds from being loaded onto some of its smaller aircraft.
However, when travel blogger and triple amputee John Morris wrote about how he was rejected from a flight in October because his power wheelchair, which weighs about 450 pounds, was too heavy, American Airlines said it would reconsider the policy.
On Tuesday, an American Airlines spokesperson confirmed to Fox News that the policy had been changed.
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“After close consultation with our safety team and our aircraft manufacturer partners, we’ve eliminated the conservative weight limits that temporarily impacted our ability to carry some mobility devices and wheelchairs on our smaller, regional aircraft,” an American Airlines spokesperson told Fox News in a statement.
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“Those limits have been replaced with guidelines, approved and reviewed by the FAA, that better reflect the ability of the cargo floor to support mobility devices and wheelchairs based on their distributed weight,” the spokesperson added. “We’re confident that the modifications we’ve made will allow us to safely accommodate customers’ wheelchairs and mobility devices on all of our aircraft.”
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According to a report from NPR, American Airlines’ wheelchair weight limit for certain regional aircraft was launched in June.
American Airlines has reversed a weight limit on wheelchairs on its regional aircraft. (iStock)
The airline reportedly told Morris that the policy was a way to avoid damaging power wheelchairs. However, an airline spokesperson told NPR that the policy was a “safety issue” related to each aircraft's’ cargo requirements.
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After he was turned away from his flight in October, Morris posted about his experience on his blog, Wheelchair Travel.
He also said that, based on the new policy, people who use power wheelchairs are “effectively banned” from more American Airlines flights in the U.S.
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In fact, Morris mapped out all the airports where American Airlines uses only regional jets.
“According to my research, there are now 130 airports in the contiguous United States that many power wheelchair users will no longer be able to fly to on American Airlines,” Morris wrote on his blog.
Now that the policy has been changed, Morris said in a follow-up blog post that the airline still needs to do more to be accessible for disabled travelers.
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In the statement sent to Fox News on Tuesday, the American Airlines spokesperson apologized for the “confusion” caused by the weight limit.
“We value the feedback and outreach we’ve received from our community partners and customers in recent weeks,” the spokesperson said. “We are committed to learning from this as we redouble our focus on improving the travel experience for our customers with disabilities.”
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