Boarding and Deplaning :
Properly trained service personnel who are knowledgeable on how to assist individuals with a disability in boarding and exiting must be available if needed. Equipment used for assisting passengers must be kept in good working condition.
Boarding and exiting most medium and large-size jet aircraft is almost always by way of level boarding ramps or mobile lounges, which must be accessible. If ramps or mobile lounges are not used, then on most flights using aircraft with 19 or more seats a lifting device (other than a device used for freight) must be provided to assist persons with limited mobility safely on and off the aircraft. On flights on smaller aircraft, passengers with mobility impairments are generally carried up and down the aircraft’s boarding stairs using a "boarding chair." Airlines are not permitted to hand-carry passengers on and off aircraft, i.e., to directly pick a passenger’s body in the arms of airline personnel.
In order to provide some personal assistance and extra time, the air carrier may offer a passenger with a disability, or any passenger that may be in need of assistance, the opportunity to pre-board the aircraft. The passenger has the option to accept or decline the offer.
On connecting flights, the delivering carrier is responsible for providing assistance to the individual with a disability in reaching his or her connecting flight.
Carriers cannot leave a passenger unattended for more than 30 minutes in a ground wheelchair, boarding chair, or other device in which the passenger is not independently mobile.
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