U.S. veterans have been on the front lines of many battles in many places at many times.
Who would think they’d have to battle in America’s courts for the simple dignity of being able to relieve themselves while traveling on an airplane.
Paralyzed Veterans of America have filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver, asking that the U.S. Department of Transportation be forced to require that bathrooms on single-aisle aircraft be accessible to those with disabilities.
What a shame that airlines have to be required.
What a shame that the transportation department has to be forced to make the requirement.
Where is the simple moral imperative? It has been torched on the bonfire of profit at all cost. It’s cheaper to go to court than to give up seats and/or galley space to create bathrooms big enough for wheelchairs.
Unlike other modes of transportation, airplanes are not subject to the rules of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Rather, the airline industry is governed by the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986. That act requires wide-body aircraft to be equipped with accessible bathrooms, but it does not require such accommodations on single-aisle aircraft, such as Boeing’s 737, one of the most widely used commercial jetliners.
After years of discussion and debate, a specially-appointed transportation committee reached a consensus that would move airlines toward accessible bathrooms. At the time, then-Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx had commented: “It is unfair to expect individuals with limited mobility to refrain from using the restroom when they fly on single-aisle aircraft, particularly since single-aisle aircraft are increasingly used for longer flights.”
Mr. Foxx had promised the rule would be in place by July 2017.
But, it didn’t happen.
This is the epitome of adding insult to injury. A wheelchair-reliant person — already injured in the physical sense — is injured again by being unable to use a bathroom when necessary. It is insulting when that person must go to court to fight for something so basic it should be an entitlement. And that the victims in ongoing court action are paralyzed veterans just adds to our outrage and incredulity.
Maybe the industry would rethink its position if some passengers started relieving themselves in the aisles once airborne. On a long flight. After all, when nature calls...
First Published December 29, 2018, 11:15 a.m.
