Air Carrier Access Act: Communicable diseases

Regulation Effective May 13, 2009:

14 C.F.R. §382.21 May carriers limit access to transportation on the basis that a passenger has a communicable disease or other medical condition?

(a) You must not do any of the following things on the basis that a passenger has a communicable disease or infection, unless you determine that the passenger’s condition poses a direct threat:

(1) Refuse to provide transportation to the passenger;

(2) Delay the passenger’s transportation (e.g., require the passenger to take a later flight);

(3) Impose on the passenger any condition, restriction, or requirement not imposed on other passengers; or

(4) Require the passenger to provide a medical certificate.

(b) In assessing whether the passenger’s condition poses a direct threat, you must apply the provisions of §382.19(c)(1) – (2) of this subpart.

(1) In making this assessment, you may rely on directives issued by public health authorities (e.g., the U.S. Centers for Disease Control or Public Health Service; comparable agencies in other countries; the World Health Organization).

(2) In making this assessment, you must consider the significance of the consequences of a communicable disease and the degree to which it can be readily transmitted by casual contact in an aircraft cabin environment.

EXAMPLE 1 TO THIS PARAGRAPH (b)(2): The common cold is readily transmissible in an aircraft cabin environment but does not have severe health consequences. Someone with a cold would not pose a direct threat.

EXAMPLE 2 TO THIS PARAGRAPH (b)(2): AIDS has very severe health consequences but is not readily transmissible in an aircraft cabin environment. Someone would not pose a direct threat because he or she is HIV-positive or has AIDS.

EXAMPLE 3 TO THIS PARAGRAH (b)(2): SARS may be readily transmissible in an aircraft cabin environment and has severe health consequences. Someone with SARS probably poses a direct threat.

(c) If a passenger with a communicable disease meeting the direct threat criteria of this section gives you a medical certificate of the kind outlined in §382.23(c)(2) describing measures for preventing transmission of the disease during the normal course of the flight, you must provide transportation to the passenger, unless you are unable to carry out the measures.

(d) If your action under this section results in the postponement of a passenger's travel, you must permit the passenger to travel at a later time (up to 90 days from the date of the postponed travel) at the fare that would have applied to the passenger's originally scheduled trip without penalty or, at the passenger's discretion, provide a refund for any unused flights, including return flights.

(e) If you take any action under this section that restricts a passenger’s travel, you must, on the passenger’s request, provide a written explanation within 10 days of the request.

Regulation before May 13, 2009:

14 C.F.R. § 382.51 Communicable diseases.*

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a carrier shall not take any of the following actions, with respect to a person who is otherwise a qualified individual with a disability, on the basis that the individual has a communicable disease or infection:

(1) Refuse to provide transportation to the person;

(2) Require the person to provide a medical certificate; or

(3) Impose on the person any condition, restriction, or requirement not imposed on other passengers.

(b)

(1) The carrier may take the actions listed in paragraph (a) of this section with respect to an individual who has a communicable disease or infection only if the individual's condition poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.

(2) For purposes of this section, a direct threat means a significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated by a modification of policies, practices, or procedures, or by the provision of auxiliary aids or services.

(3) In determining whether an individual poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, a carrier must make an individualized assessment, based on reasonable judgment that relies on current medical knowledge or on the best available objective evidence, to ascertain: the nature, duration, and severity of the risk; that the potential harm to the health and safety of others will actually occur; and whether reasonable modifications of policies, practices, or procedures will mitigate the risk.

(4) In taking actions authorized under this paragraph, carriers shall select the alternative, consistent with the safety and health of other persons, that is least restrictive from the point of view of the passenger with the communicable disease. For example, the carrier shall not refuse to provide transportation to an individual if provision of a medical certificate or reasonable modifications to practices, policies, or procedures will mitigate the risk of communication of the disease to others to an extent that would permit the individual to travel.

(5) If an action authorized under this paragraph results in the postponement of a passenger's travel, the carrier shall permit the passenger to travel at a later time (up to 90 days from the date of the postponed travel) at the fare that would have applied to the passenger's originally scheduled trip without penalty or, at the passenger's discretion, provide a refund for any unused flights, including return flights.

(6) Upon the passenger's request, the carrier shall provide to the passenger a written explanation of any action taken under this paragraph within 10 days of the request.

(c) If a qualified individual with a disability with a communicable disease or infection of the kind described in paragraph (b) of this section presents a medical certificate to the carrier, as provided in §382.53(c)(2), the carrier shall provide transportation to the individual, unless it is not feasible for the carrier to implement the conditions set forth in the medical certificate as necessary to prevent the transmission of the disease or infection to other persons in the normal course of a flight.

* Denotes Regulation will be updated effective May 13, 2009.