Travelers with luggage walking through a bright airport walkway

Getting Help at the Airport: Wheelchair Assistance and Your Rights

ByJoan Whitaker

If walking long distances is hard, or you use a wheelchair, scooter or walker, you have the right to help. Knowing what to ask for, and when, can make the day much smoother.

Your Rights Under the Air Carrier Access Act

A federal law called the Air Carrier Access Act bars airlines from discriminating against travelers with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) enforces it and sums up the key protections in its Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights. As of October 2026, those include:

  • Prompt help, on request, getting on and off the plane from trained airline staff
  • Help moving through the airport, from the curb to your flight, between gates for a connection, and from your arriving flight back to the curb
  • Help reaching places like the ticket counter or baggage claim, and a restroom entrance if time allows
  • Early boarding if you tell the gate agent you need extra time or help to board or get settled
  • No hand-carrying on or off the plane, except in an emergency
  • No being left alone for more than 30 minutes if you use a wheelchair and can’t move around on your own

Airlines also can’t force a type of help you didn’t ask for. For example, if you asked for someone to guide you, they can’t insist you ride in a wheelchair.

How to Request Assistance

Airlines generally can’t require you to tell them ahead of time that a traveler with a disability is flying. Still, DOT encourages you to request help in advance when you can. Airlines may require up to 48 hours’ notice for a few services that take preparation, such as hooking up a respirator or carrying an electric wheelchair on a plane with fewer than 60 seats.

  1. Ask for wheelchair or other assistance when you book, online or by phone. Say whether you can walk short distances or climb stairs, so staff know what kind of help fits.
  2. Mention any mobility device you are bringing, especially a battery-powered wheelchair or scooter.
  3. If you need a seat with a movable armrest or extra legroom, tell the airline. Airlines must provide these seats to travelers who identify the need, when they exist in your class of service.
  4. Confirm your request a day or two before you fly.
  5. When you arrive at the airport, and again at the gate, let airline staff know you requested help. DOT says this step is needed to receive it.

Check-In and Getting to Security

Plan to arrive early. At the curb or the check-in counter, tell the agent you need wheelchair help. An airline employee or contractor will usually bring a wheelchair and take you from there.

Wheelchairs, walkers and other assistive devices don’t count toward your carry-on limit. Airlines must accept battery-powered wheelchairs, including their batteries, and provide hazardous materials packaging at no charge.

Getting Through Security

TSA offers a free helpline called TSA Cares at (855) 787-2227. TSA asks travelers to call, or fill out its online request form, at least 72 hours before departure. You can ask for a Passenger Support Specialist, an officer trained to help travelers with disabilities and medical conditions. TSA notes this help doesn’t exempt anyone from screening. Hours are posted on the TSA website, so check them before you call.

At the checkpoint, here’s what to expect:

  • You can tell the officer about your condition out loud, with a TSA notification card or with medical paperwork.
  • If you can’t stand or walk, in a TSA PreCheck lane you may stay seated while an officer tests your hands for explosives. In standard lanes, travelers 75 and older may also stay seated, while others who can’t go through the scanner get a pat-down.
  • Pat-downs are done by an officer of the same gender.
  • Your wheelchair or scooter will be inspected, including seat cushions. Removable bags and pouches go through the X-ray.
  • Walkers, canes and crutches go through the X-ray. Tell the officer if you need yours back right away.
  • If something doesn’t go well, ask for a supervisor.

For tips on packing pills, CPAPs and other equipment, see our guide to airport security with medications and medical devices.

At the Gate and During Connections

Check in with the gate agent as soon as you arrive and ask about early boarding. If there is no jet bridge, most U.S. airports must have a lift for boarding larger planes. On board, crew members can help you stow and retrieve carry-on items and get to the restroom using an on-board wheelchair if you ask.

If you have a connection, airline staff should meet you at the plane and take you to your next gate. Speak up if no one arrives.

When Something Goes Wrong

Every airline must have a Complaint Resolution Official, or CRO, available at each airport it serves whenever it is operating there. This person is trained in disability rules and can often fix problems on the spot. The CRO may help you by phone.

  1. Ask any airline employee to connect you with the CRO.
  2. Write down names, times, flight numbers and what happened.
  3. If the problem isn’t solved, send a written complaint to the airline. Airlines must respond in writing within 30 days, but they don’t have to address complaints sent more than 45 days after the incident unless DOT refers them.
  4. File a complaint with DOT online at transportation.gov or by mail. DOT refers disability complaints it receives within six months of the incident to the airline and reviews whether the law was broken.
  5. For questions about your rights, call the DOT Disability Hotline at 1-800-778-4838, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A quick safety note: Stay seated in the wheelchair until staff lock it, and don’t try to manage stairs or steep ramps on your own.

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