Seating Accommodation Interactive Guide
Welcome to the Seating Accommodation Interactive Guide.
This guide contains relevant, important information regarding seating accommodations to help ensure customers with disabilities have a pleasant travel experience.
Top Issues
Seat Assignment Criteria
Under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), airlines are required to provide certain seating accommodations to passengers with disabilities who self-identify as needing to sit in a certain seat. If you are a passenger with one of the disability-related needs listed below and self-identify as such to the airline, you may qualify for one of the following types of seating accommodations:
- Moveable Aisle Armrest
- An Adjoining Seat
- Bulkhead Seat or Other Seat (including Greater Leg Room)
- Exit Row Seating
Airlines must not exclude any passenger with a disability from any seat or require that a passenger with a disability sit in any particular seat based on their disability. However, in responding to requests from individuals for seating accommodations, carriers shall comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or a foreign carrier's government safety rules, including those pertaining to all seating.
Carriers are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket or to provide a seat in a class of service other than the one the passenger has purchased.
If a passenger’s disability results in involuntary behavior that could result in the person being refused transportation, but the passenger can be transported safely if seated in another location, you must offer to let the passenger sit in that location (e.g., turrets syndrome, autism, etc.)
Things to Know
Do most airlines provide advance seat assignments for passengers with disabilities?
- Yes. Depending on the type of seating method your airline uses and your particular disability-related need, you may be required to ask for a specific type of seating accommodation more than 24 hours in advance or to check in one hour before the standard check-in time for the flight.
Do all airlines provide advance seat assignments?
- No. Some airlines do not provide advance seat assignments.
- If your airline does not provide an advance seat assignment, you can request to board the aircraft before other passengers if you need additional time or assistance to board, stow accessibility equipment, or select a seat that best meets your needs.
Should I contact the airline in advance if I need to sit in a particular seat due to my disability?
- Yes. If you have a disability and would prefer or need a certain type of seating accommodation, you should contact the airline at the time you make your reservation to learn more about the method that the airline uses to make arrangements for a seating accommodation.
If I have a temporary disability (ex. broken leg), can I still receive a seating accommodation?
- Yes. If you have a fused or immobilized leg, airlines are required to provide you with a seating accommodation that accommodates your need for more leg room.
Must an airline provide me with a seat in a different class of service to accommodate my disability?
- No. Although airlines may choose to seat you in another class of service to accommodate your disability, they are not required to provide you a seat in a class of service other than the one you paid to sit in. For example, if you paid for a seat in Economy Class, the airline is not required to seat you in Business Class to accommodate your disability.
Must an airline provide an extra seat free of charge for a passenger with a disability who needs that space?
- No. Airlines are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket purchased. However, if you need an extra seat, you can purchase one.
Can an airline require you to change your assigned seat or sit in a bulkhead seat because you are traveling with a service animal?
- Generally, no. But an airline may do so to comply with FAA or applicable foreign government safety regulations. For example, you may be asked to change seats if you are traveling with a service animal that blocks access to the emergency exit.
Can I sit in an exit row?
- Airlines must always comply with FAA and foreign government safety rules. There are FAA and foreign government safety rules that may restrict certain passengers with disabilities from sitting in an exit row seat.
Seating Accommodation Tips
Before Your Trip
- You should make reservations as early as possible and request the needed seating accommodation.
- You should know that individuals with a service animal or a fused leg have priority for the bulkhead seats. Airlines that provide advance seat assignments to passengers must either (1) block an adequate number of bulkhead seats for passengers traveling with a service animal or who have a fused leg; or (2) designate an adequate number of bulkhead seats as “priority” seats for such passengers.
- Be aware that while an airline is not required to allow you to select a specific seat, it is required to provide you a seat that meets your needs (with certain limitations for bulkhead seats and emergency-exit seats).
- You should know that airlines are not required to upgrade you to a higher class of service to accommodate your disability. Airlines are also not required to provide more than one seat per ticket.
At the airport
- When you arrive at the airport and check in at the ticket counter, confirm with the airline that it has a record of your seating accommodation request.
- If you need additional time or assistance to board the aircraft, consider requesting to pre-board. Airlines must allow passengers with disabilities the opportunity to pre-board who self-identify at the gate as requiring additional time or assistance to be seated or stow accessibility equipment. A passenger must make a request to the gate agent to take advantage of this opportunity.
On the aircraft
- You are entitled to a bulkhead seat if you are traveling with a service animal or have a fused or immobilized leg. Airlines are also required to provide other available bulkhead seats to passengers with other types of disabilities if they need it to readily access the air transportation service.
- If you have given advance notice to the airline about the seating accommodation you need and have received a seat assignment, and there is an aircraft change, your request for accommodation should be transferred to the new seating map for the replacement airplane. While the airline may not guarantee that you receive the exact same seat assignment, the new seat assignment should provide the same level of accommodation that your original seat assignment does.
Encounter A Problem?
- If you believe your rights under the ACAA are being or have been violated, ask to speak with a Complaints Resolution Official (CRO). A CRO is the airline’s expert on disability accommodation issues. Airlines are required to make one available to you, at no cost, in person at the airport or by telephone during the times they are operating.