A large American carrier asked the Transportation Department for relief from annual wheelchair training, and the department has paused enforcement of five provisions until April 2027
A large American carrier went to the Transportation Department and asked for flexibility. It had FAA approval to run certain flight attendant safety training on an eighteen month cycle under 14 CFR part 121, while the department's own rule required annual training on the onboard wheelchair. Running one on twelve months and the other on eighteen, the carrier said, would mean transporting almost 30,000 flight attendants to sessions off-cycle and taking each of them out of operations for an extra day a year.
The department has agreed to hold off. Enforcement of the annual hands-on training requirement at 14 CFR 382.63(h)(1) is delayed until 30 April 2027. It was scheduled to take effect on 2 October.
That provision comes from the Accessible Lavatories on Single-Aisle Aircraft rule of August 2023, and it covers training flight attendants to proficiency on retrieving, assembling, stowing and using the onboard wheelchair, and on the accessibility features of lavatories themselves.
The four that were already paused
The same notice extends an existing pause. Four provisions of the December 2024 rule on accommodating air travellers with disabilities using wheelchairs have been unenforced since last September, and their end date moves from 31 December 2026 to 30 April 2027.
They are airline liability for mishandled wheelchairs at 382.130(a), the frequency of refresher training at 382.141(a)(6), pre-departure notifications at 382.125(e), and fare difference reimbursements at 382.132.
The reason given for the extension is scheduling. The department had said the earliest it expected to decide whether to finalise the replacement rule was 31 December 2026. It now expects 30 April 2027.
What is not in the pause
Initial training was still due. Under 382.141(a)(6) the department required it by 17 June 2026, and only the annual refresher after that sits inside the discretion.
Congress is upstream of some of this. Section 542 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directed the department to set minimum training standards for the personnel who assist wheelchair users boarding and deplaning and who stow chairs and scooters, and it wrote an eighteen month recurrent cycle with on-the-job recertification into the statute. The pending rulemaking, Wheelchair Rule II, is where the frequency question is to be settled.
The notice states plainly that it does not touch any other requirement of the Accessible Lavatory Rule, and that the exercise of discretion does not prejudge the outcome. It names no airline. It is signed by Gregory Zerzan, the department's general counsel.
