USDOT Waives $16.7M Fine, Orders $16.8M in Accessibility Upgrades From American Airlines

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) — The U.S. Department of Transportation has agreed to waive $16.7 million in fines assessed against American Airlines and instead require the carrier to invest $16.8 million in improvements for passengers with disabilities as part of a revised settlement announced Tuesday.

Under the new terms, American must purchase 119 additional wheelchair lifts to be installed at Miami, Philadelphia and Chicago O'Hare airports. The airline also must deploy mobile devices and software upgrades to track and record passenger wheelchairs point-by-point as they move through the travel process. Purchases of wheelchair movers and lifts must be completed by December 2026, and the wheelchair-tracking system must be implemented by May 2027.

USDOT: This approach delivers direct, tangible benefits to travelers rather than sending funds to the U.S. Treasury.

The action revises a 2024 settlement in which American had agreed to pay $25 million in fines over three years and was credited with $25 million for investments and goodwill payments to affected passengers. The department said its earlier investigation found instances of unsafe physical assistance that at times resulted in injuries and undignified treatment of wheelchair users, along with repeated failures to provide timely wheelchair assistance. USDOT also reported that American had damaged or delayed the return of thousands of wheelchairs, ranking among the poorest U.S. carriers on that metric.

American Airlines said in a statement it remains committed to supporting the independence of travelers with disabilities and that this agreement will direct millions of dollars to improve the travel experience for customers who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices.

The department last year said the original fine represented a new enforcement precedent, noting it was 25 times larger than the previous highest penalty for violations of disability protections. In a separate action late Friday, USDOT also agreed to waive an $11 million remaining fine on Southwest Airlines tied to its December 2022 operational meltdown, citing Southwest's decision to invest more than $1 billion in operational improvements.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington)