[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 14, Volume 4]
[Revised as of January 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 14CFR382.35]

[Page 419-420]
 
                     TITLE 14--AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
 
   CHAPTER II--OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 
                         (AVIATION PROCEEDINGS)
 
PART 382--NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL--Table of Contents
 
                  Subpart C--Requirements for Services
 
Sec. 382.35  Attendants.

    (a) Except as provided in this section, a carrier shall not require 
that a qualified individual with a disability travel with an attendant 
as a condition of being provided air transportation. A concern on the 
part of carrier personnel that a individual with a disability may need 
to use inaccessible lavatory facilities or may otherwise need extensive 
special assistance for personal needs which carrier personnel are not 
obligated to provide is not a basis on which the carrier may require an 
attendant.
    (b) A carrier may require that a qualified individual with a 
disability meeting any of the following criteria travel with an 
attendant as a condition of being provided air transportation, if the 
carrier determines that an attendant is essential for safety:
    (1) A person traveling in a stretcher or incubator. The attendant 
for such a person must be capable of attending to the passenger's in-
flight medical needs;
    (2) A person who, because of a mental disability, is unable to 
comprehend or respond appropriately to safety instructions from carrier 
personnel, including the safety briefing required by 14 CFR 
121.571(a)(3) and (a)(4) or 14 CFR 135.117(b);
    (3) A person with a mobility impairment so severe that the person is 
unable to assist in his or her own evacuation of the aircraft;
    (4) A person who has both severe hearing and severe vision 
impairments, if the person cannot establish some means of communication 
with carrier personnel, adequate to permit transmission of the safety 
briefing required by 14 CFR 121.571(a)(3) and (a)(4) or 14 CFR 
135.117(b).
    (c) If the carrier determines that a person meeting the criteria of 
paragraph (b)(2), (b)(3) or (b)(4) of this section must travel with an 
attendant,

[[Page 420]]

contrary to the individual's self-assessment that he or she is capable 
of traveling independently, the carrier shall not charge for the 
transportation of the attendant.
    (d) If, because there is not a seat available on a flight for an 
attendant whom the carrier has determined to be necessary, an individual 
with a disability with a confirmed reservation is unable to travel on 
the flight, the individual with a disability shall be eligible for 
denied boarding compensation under 14 CFR part 250.
    (e) For purposes of determining whether a seat is available for an 
attendant, the attendant shall be deemed to have checked in at the same 
time as the individual with a disability.