[nfb-talk] Article on Proposed New Rules in Air Travel

[Peter Donahue]

Good afternoon everyone,

    Just passing this on. This is a situation we still need to watch.

Peter Donahue


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Osborn" <michael.hastings at cox.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2006 2:39 PM
Subject: Article on Proposed New Rules in Air Travel





http://www.latimes.com/travel/printedition/la-tr-
healthy8oct08,1,3729053.column?coll=la-headlines-travel
HEALTHY TRAVELER

Airlines, disabled passengers weigh proposed access rules

Potential changes by a federal agency could affect how service dogs
are transported and safety data presented.
Kathleen Doheny
Healthy Traveler

October 8, 2006

IN the last four years, Michael Osborn, a 50-year-old Laguna Beach
marketing consultant, has flown to 14 countries for business and
pleasure. He is always accompanied by Hastings, his 75-pound yellow
Labrador. Hastings has been the perfect traveler, Osborn says,
spending much of every flight dozing under his master's seat.

Osborn hopes things can stay that way, but like other fliers who rely
on guide dogs, he is wary of some proposed changes to the Air Carrier
Access Act of 1986.

The act prohibits discrimination against passengers who have a
disability. The U.S. Department of Transportation, charged with
implementing it, is re-evaluating some of its regulations. The goal,
agency spokesman Bill Mosley said, is to update the act and clarify
it, because amendments and new interpretations had made it a
patchwork. The department issued its proposed new rules in late 2004
and then accepted comments and suggestions; a final set of
regulations will be published as soon as possible, Mosley said.One
suggested change proposes that owners of large guide dogs whose
animals couldn't fit under the seat be offered several options —
moving to another available seat that could accommodate the passenger
and dog, buying a second seat, taking another flight or putting the
dog in cargo hold. Mosley emphasizes that buying another seat is
simply an option. "Airlines cannot require you to pay," he said.

Kimberly Riddle, also from the agency, gave more details.

"The airline cannot force a passenger to transport a service animal
in the cargo hold. However, if the service animal will not fit under
the seat or a collection of seats in the cabin [and the passenger
hasn't bought a separate seat], the animal must be removed from the
airline cabin. FAA rules require that items of mass be stowed safely.
This includes service animals."

Buying another seat, said Osborn and others who use guide dogs, could
create a financial burden. And separating a guide dog and its master
by putting the animal in the hold would be traumatic for both. "He is
my eyes," said Osborn, who lost his vision in 1994 and got 6-year-old
Hastings four years ago. They are never apart, he noted, and he fears
such a trip would put Hastings "in shock" and render him unable to work.

Some of the other proposed changes are also triggering debate from
the traveling public. The airline industry is protesting the
increased costs of implementing the changes.

The department is evaluating the input from the industry and the
public. (To read comments, go to dms.dot.gov, click on "Simple
Search" and enter Docket No. 19482. To read about proposed new rules
on accessibility for wheelchair air passengers, go to latimes.com/
healthytraveler.)

Organizations such as the Guide Dogs for the Blind and the National
Assn. of the Deaf are among those that have submitted comments and
protests.

"Cargo is not a safe place for dogs," said Michael Hingson, a
spokesman for the San Rafael, Calif.-based Guide Dogs for the Blind.
He has been with his guide dog, Roselle, an 8 1/2 -year-old Lab, for
seven years.

"What we are really saying is a guide dog is an extension of a blind
person, and you should not limit the right to travel simply because I
use a guide dog," said Hingson, whose organization opposes the
proposed provisions about the cargo hold and buying an extra seat.

"The allergy issue keeps coming up," he said. But a guide dog and a
traveler who suffers from allergies can be seated far enough apart so
it's not an issue, he added.

On a large airplane, that is probably true, said Dr. Marc Riedl, an
allergist and assistant professor of allergy and immunology at the
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. "There may be exceptions to
that, especially if the air circulating system is poor or if the
patient is extremely sensitive to the allergen."

But it may pose a bigger problem on smaller planes, he said.

About 10,000 blind adults in the U.S. use guide dogs, Hingson said,
and numerous others use service or assistance dogs.The proposed new
rules also seek to increase accommodations for hearing-impaired
passengers by requiring U.S. and foreign carriers to caption all
safety and informational videos on aircraft. On new planes, it would
require captions on entertainment videos, DVDs and other audiovisual
displays.

Carriers must be sure that those with a visual or hearing impairment
have access to the same safety and other information as everyone
else, the rule says.

The National Assn. of the Deaf, among other organizations, has
submitted comments backing the new rules that require more
accessibility.



But the Air Transport Assn., the trade organization of the principal
U.S. airlines, does not support the proposed new rules. In comments
filed with the Department of Transportation, the organization
contends that the agency "has conflated civil rights with customer
service matters that it should leave to the competitive marketplace."

The association reasons that many of the new rules would burden air
carriers, many of which are already struggling with financially
problems.

In the comments to the department, the airline industry organization
said the agency had underestimated the costs of adding the suggested
accessibility improvements.



kathleendoheny at earthlink.net






----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----








http://www.latimes.com/travel/printedition/la-tr-healthy8oct08,1,3729053.column?coll=la-headlines-travel
HEALTHY TRAVELER

Airlines, disabled passengers weigh proposed access rules

Potential changes by a federal agency could affect how service dogs are
transported and safety data presented.
Kathleen Doheny
Healthy Traveler


October 8, 2006


IN the last four years, Michael Osborn, a 50-year-old Laguna Beach marketing
consultant, has flown to 14 countries for business and pleasure. He is
always accompanied by Hastings, his 75-pound yellow Labrador. Hastings has
been the perfect traveler, Osborn says, spending much of every flight dozing
under his master's seat.


Osborn hopes things can stay that way, but like other fliers who rely on
guide dogs, he is wary of some proposed changes to the Air Carrier Access
Act of 1986.


The act prohibits discrimination against passengers who have a disability.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, charged with implementing it, is
re-evaluating some of its regulations. The goal, agency spokesman Bill
Mosley said, is to update the act and clarify it, because amendments and new
interpretations had made it a patchwork. The department issued its proposed
new rules in late 2004 and then accepted comments and suggestions; a final
set of regulations will be published as soon as possible, Mosley said.One
suggested change proposes that owners of large guide dogs whose animals
couldn't fit under the seat be offered several options — moving to another
available seat that could accommodate the passenger and dog, buying a second
seat, taking another flight or putting the dog in cargo hold. Mosley
emphasizes that buying another seat is simply an option. "Airlines cannot
require you to pay," he said.


Kimberly Riddle, also from the agency, gave more details.


"The airline cannot force a passenger to transport a service animal in the
cargo hold. However, if the service animal will not fit under the seat or a
collection of seats in the cabin [and the passenger hasn't bought a separate
seat], the animal must be removed from the airline cabin. FAA rules require
that items of mass be stowed safely. This includes service animals."


Buying another seat, said Osborn and others who use guide dogs, could create
a financial burden. And separating a guide dog and its master by putting the
animal in the hold would be traumatic for both. "He is my eyes," said
Osborn, who lost his vision in 1994 and got 6-year-old Hastings four years
ago. They are never apart, he noted, and he fears such a trip would put
Hastings "in shock" and render him unable to work.


Some of the other proposed changes are also triggering debate from the
traveling public. The airline industry is protesting the increased costs of
implementing the changes.


The department is evaluating the input from the industry and the public. (To
read comments, go to dms.dot.gov, click on "Simple Search" and enter Docket
No. 19482. To read about proposed new rules on accessibility for wheelchair
air passengers, go to latimes.com/healthytraveler.)


Organizations such as the Guide Dogs for the Blind and the National Assn. of
the Deaf are among those that have submitted comments and protests.


"Cargo is not a safe place for dogs," said Michael Hingson, a spokesman for
the San Rafael, Calif.-based Guide Dogs for the Blind. He has been with his
guide dog, Roselle, an 8 1/2 -year-old Lab, for seven years.


"What we are really saying is a guide dog is an extension of a blind person,
and you should not limit the right to travel simply because I use a guide
dog," said Hingson, whose organization opposes the proposed provisions about
the cargo hold and buying an extra seat.


"The allergy issue keeps coming up," he said. But a guide dog and a traveler
who suffers from allergies can be seated far enough apart so it's not an
issue, he added.


On a large airplane, that is probably true, said Dr. Marc Riedl, an
allergist and assistant professor of allergy and immunology at the UCLA
David Geffen School of Medicine. "There may be exceptions to that,
especially if the air circulating system is poor or if the patient is
extremely sensitive to the allergen."


But it may pose a bigger problem on smaller planes, he said.


About 10,000 blind adults in the U.S. use guide dogs, Hingson said, and
numerous others use service or assistance dogs.The proposed new rules also
seek to increase accommodations for hearing-impaired passengers by requiring
U.S. and foreign carriers to caption all safety and informational videos on
aircraft. On new planes, it would require captions on entertainment videos,
DVDs and other audiovisual displays.


Carriers must be sure that those with a visual or hearing impairment have
access to the same safety and other information as everyone else, the rule
says.


The National Assn. of the Deaf, among other organizations, has submitted
comments backing the new rules that require more accessibility.






But the Air Transport Assn., the trade organization of the principal U.S.
airlines, does not support the proposed new rules. In comments filed with
the Department of Transportation, the organization contends that the agency
"has conflated civil rights with customer service matters that it should
leave to the competitive marketplace."


The association reasons that many of the new rules would burden air
carriers, many of which are already struggling with financially problems.


In the comments to the department, the airline industry organization said
the agency had underestimated the costs of adding the suggested
accessibility improvements.






kathleendoheny at earthlink.net