September 2, 2010, 08:00:00AM. By Gordon Gibb

Email

Orlando, FL: A Florida-based airline has been issued a $500,000 civil penalty by the Department of Transportation (DOT) for various alleged violations regarding the accommodation of disabled travelers. As mandated by the DOT, a large part of the penalty will be used to improve accommodations for passengers with physical disabilities, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Air Tran, which is headquartered in Orlando and is a unit of AirTran Holdings Inc., was accused of violating various rules concerning assistance provided to physically challenged passengers during boarding. A spokesperson for the airline said the majority of complaints are related to the unavailability of wheelchairs when needed.

The airline, according to AP, is working to establish a tracking system for wheelchairs at its various hubs in Atlanta, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Orlando. The wheelchair tracking system, which AirTran hopes to have in place within the year, will be developed using $140,000 of the civil penalty.

A further $60,000 of the civil penalty will be put towards the establishment of a disability council for the airline. The council will offer the airline guidance in complying with federal disability rules.

The DOT cited AirTran for frequently failing to provide adequate written responses to passenger complaints. In addition, reports filed by AirTran to government regulators failed to properly categorize disability complaints, according to the AP report.

AirTran spokesman Christopher White told AP that less than half of one percent of the 900,000-plus passengers AirTran has served in the last three years have reported issues to either AirTran or the DOT.

AirTran is constantly striving to improve service, said White. The airline is intent on implementing several initiatives to enhance its ability to serve special needs passengers "with the highest level of dignity and care," according to AirTran's spokesman.

READ ABOUT DISABILITY LAWSUITS 

LawyersandSettlements.com - A trusted, independent legal news provider bringing quality news and information on all legal cases and lawsuits filed in United States of America to its readers since 2002. Over 250,000 legal help requests including Discrimination Cases have been forwarded to lawyers all across to the country.