The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued new rules on Monday to protect travelers with disabilities when flying, ensuring airlines protect passengers with wheelchairs, give employees hands-on training, and more.

The new rules will go into effect between Jan. 16, 2025, and June 17, 2026, depending on the rule, according to the DOT. The rules come as the DOT estimates at least one wheelchair or scooter is damaged, delayed, or lost for every 100 transported on domestic flights.

“Every passenger deserves safe, dignified travel when they fly — and we’ve taken unprecedented actions to hold airlines accountable when they do not provide fair treatment to passengers with disabilities,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “With the new protections we’re announcing today, we’re establishing a new standard for air travel — with clear and thorough guidelines for airlines to ensure that passengers using wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.” 

With the new rules, airlines must provide “safe” and “dignified” assistance to travelers with disabilities “that does not put them at heightened risk of bodily injury” and “in a manner that respects a passenger’s independence, autonomy, and privacy.” Airlines must also provide annual training, including hands-on training, to employees who assist passengers with mobility disabilities or handle their wheelchairs or scooters.

In addition, airlines must return any checked wheelchairs or other assistive devices in the condition they were received. If they are not, the DOT said there will be a “presumption that the airline mishandled the passenger’s wheelchair or other assistive device in violation of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA).” Airlines will also be required to notify passengers before they deplane when their wheelchairs or scooters have been unloaded.

If a wheelchair or scooter is delayed, airlines must transport it to the passenger’s final destination within 24 hours of their arrival for domestic or short international flights and within 30 hours of their arrival for long international flights lasting more than 12 hours. The DOT also put rules in place for reimbursements and alternative accommodations. 

Looking ahead, the DOT will require airlines to improve their standards for on-board wheelchairs. The rule will require all on-board wheelchairs for use on planes with more than 60 seats to meet the new standards by Oct. 2, 2031. 

Some carriers, like United Airlines, for example, have made improvements to their travel protocols for passengers with disabilities like launching a new search feature to ensure that wheelchair users will be accommodated.

The push to improve the travel experience for passengers with disabilities comes as the DOT has made a concerted effort to expand airline passenger rights, including spelling out airline refund rules, launching a passenger guide to family seating, and publishing the first-ever bill of rights for airline passengers with disabilities.

In an interview with Travel + Leisure, Buttigieg reflected on his accomplishments as the head of the DOT and said he feels he is “leaving America's transportation systems better than we found them.”