Frontier CEO claims passengers are abusing wheelchair services to skip lines

Frontier Airlines is taking a stand against passengers who claim to feign disability to request wheelchair services and get ahead of other customers at airport security and in aircraft boarding lines.

The airline’s CEO, Barry Biffle, addressed the issue at an industry luncheon on Thursday. “There is massive and rampant abuse of special services. There are people who use wheelchair assistance who don’t need it,” Biffle said at Wings Club on Thursday, CNBC. reported.

The CEO made his comments about airport fraud ahead of Memorial Day weekend, which is expected to be one of the busiest travel weekends in years. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it expects to screen more than 18 million people over the holiday weekend.

Crowds of passengers waiting in long airport security lines, as well as to board flights, are exactly the type of situation that people who don’t need wheelchairs but who request them anyway seek to avoid, according to Biffle and the airline.

Biffle said he realized the ruse when he noticed that about 20 passengers had boarded a flight using wheelchairs, but only three needed assistance upon arrival, according to the report. “We are healing so many people,” he joked at lunch, according to CNBC.

Alleged abuse of wheelchair services could be costly for airlines and create delays for other passengers who aren’t cutting in line.

“We believe there is widespread abuse among passengers who use wheelchair services to move to the front of security lines and gain priority boarding on flights, and the TSA and airlines are in a difficult position when it comes to managing the problem,” Frontier said in a statement. statement to CBS MoneyWatch on Friday.

Rights of passengers with disabilities

Airlines are required by the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, which prevents discrimination against people with disabilities in air travel, to provide wheelchairs to passengers who require them. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Air Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rightsa passenger with a disability is defined as any person “with a physical or mental disability that permanently or temporarily affects a major life activity such as walking, hearing or breathing.”

But there are no penalties to dissuade passengers from abusing the services, Frontier said.

“A wheelchair registration or verification system is needed, along with legislation to address the problem and impose penalties for those who abuse the system,” the airline said.

It is true that there are passengers with disabilities who may require wheelchair assistance at the airport of origin due to the long distances between the entrance and the boarding gate, but may not require the same assistance if they arrive at a smaller facility.

Other people have so-called “invisible disabilities,” which means they may appear physically to have no disability but still have difficulty walking without assistance or performing other functions.

About that, passengers traveling with their own assistive devices face a whole other set of challenges in the air. Wheelchair users say it is not uncommon for them to be mishandled or broken during air travel and that repairs are often expensive.

In 2022, the 10 largest U.S. airlines lost, damaged or destroyed more than 11,000 wheelchairs and scooters, according to the Department of Transport. This represents 1.5% of all wheelchairs and scooters boarded on planes.

Cory Lee, an avid traveler who uses a wheelchair and writes a blog, Free Curb with Corey Leesaid flying is the worst part of the trip because his $40,000 electric wheelchair is damaged about half the time he flies.