Good luck with this one. We at SWA lost this battle already.
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]JetBlue plan ires disabled[/font]
Advocates fight airline’s effort to attain waiver after new plane lacks cabin space to store wheelchair
BY JAMES BERNSTEIN
STAFF WRITER
Posted January 27 2005
JetBlue Airways is set to become the world's first airline to fly the newest Embraer regional jetliners later this year, but already the carrier is in a dispute with advocates for the disabled who complain the aircraft does not meet federal rules that require space to store a wheelchair.
Forest Hills-based JetBlue is counting on the 100-seat E-190s, made in Brazil, for a major expansion of the airline. Right now, JetBlue has only 156-seat A-320s made by Airbus, and the airline wants the new planes in service by October.
Test pilots from JetBlue flew the E-190 in Brazil this past autumn, and by all accounts, the airplane checked out perfectly - except for one thing. JetBlue spokesman Todd Burke said yesterday they discovered it did not have space in its cabin to store a wheelchair. A decade-old federal regulation requires airplanes capable of carrying 100 passengers to provide space to stow one wheelchair in the cabin.
Almost immediately, JetBlue asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for a waiver, saying, "The dimensions of the new fleet of E-190s will not permit a folded, standard-sized adult wheelchair to be stowed within the cabin, even if JetBlue were to block a row of seats" as it does to store wheelchairs on its A-320s.
But JetBlue has run afoul of at least one disabled-rights organization, the 21,000-member Washington, D.C.-based Paralyzed Veterans of America, which is opposing the carrier's request.
Burke said JetBlue wants to accommodate people in wheelchairs, and has offered to stow the wheelchairs in the forward cargo section. "We could get [the wheelchair] back to the passenger faster than if it was stowed somewhere in the cabin," Burke said.
But Maureen McCloskey, national advocacy director for the veterans group, said wheelchairs stowed in cargo areas are often damaged. "Mishandling of wheelchairs is a very big issue for our members," she said. "The only way to absolutely make sure your wheelchair gets with you where you're going is to stow it onboard in the cabin."
Bill Mosley, a spokesman for the federal transportation agency, said he did not know when the agency would rule on JetBlue's request.
In an ironic twist, Burke said JetBlue would have to remove two seats to store a wheelchair, and that if it did so, the plane, at 98 seats, would no longer fall under the federal regulation. But JetBlue is unlikely to remove seats, since each seat means revenue for an airline.
Industry experts said the issue needs to be settled soon because JetBlue will be flying seven E-190s this year, and will eventually have a fleet of 100. JetBlue will be the world's first airliner to fly E-190s, said Embraer spokesman Doug Oliver.
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]JetBlue plan ires disabled[/font]
Advocates fight airline’s effort to attain waiver after new plane lacks cabin space to store wheelchair
BY JAMES BERNSTEIN
STAFF WRITER
Posted January 27 2005
JetBlue Airways is set to become the world's first airline to fly the newest Embraer regional jetliners later this year, but already the carrier is in a dispute with advocates for the disabled who complain the aircraft does not meet federal rules that require space to store a wheelchair.
Forest Hills-based JetBlue is counting on the 100-seat E-190s, made in Brazil, for a major expansion of the airline. Right now, JetBlue has only 156-seat A-320s made by Airbus, and the airline wants the new planes in service by October.
Test pilots from JetBlue flew the E-190 in Brazil this past autumn, and by all accounts, the airplane checked out perfectly - except for one thing. JetBlue spokesman Todd Burke said yesterday they discovered it did not have space in its cabin to store a wheelchair. A decade-old federal regulation requires airplanes capable of carrying 100 passengers to provide space to stow one wheelchair in the cabin.
Almost immediately, JetBlue asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for a waiver, saying, "The dimensions of the new fleet of E-190s will not permit a folded, standard-sized adult wheelchair to be stowed within the cabin, even if JetBlue were to block a row of seats" as it does to store wheelchairs on its A-320s.
But JetBlue has run afoul of at least one disabled-rights organization, the 21,000-member Washington, D.C.-based Paralyzed Veterans of America, which is opposing the carrier's request.
Burke said JetBlue wants to accommodate people in wheelchairs, and has offered to stow the wheelchairs in the forward cargo section. "We could get [the wheelchair] back to the passenger faster than if it was stowed somewhere in the cabin," Burke said.
But Maureen McCloskey, national advocacy director for the veterans group, said wheelchairs stowed in cargo areas are often damaged. "Mishandling of wheelchairs is a very big issue for our members," she said. "The only way to absolutely make sure your wheelchair gets with you where you're going is to stow it onboard in the cabin."
Bill Mosley, a spokesman for the federal transportation agency, said he did not know when the agency would rule on JetBlue's request.
In an ironic twist, Burke said JetBlue would have to remove two seats to store a wheelchair, and that if it did so, the plane, at 98 seats, would no longer fall under the federal regulation. But JetBlue is unlikely to remove seats, since each seat means revenue for an airline.
Industry experts said the issue needs to be settled soon because JetBlue will be flying seven E-190s this year, and will eventually have a fleet of 100. JetBlue will be the world's first airliner to fly E-190s, said Embraer spokesman Doug Oliver.
