Aloha Airlines, Inc.

Order 2006-2-15
OST-2004-19190 - Petition for an Exemption from 382.21(a)(2) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations

Issued and Served February 21, 2006

Order Denying Exemption

After carefully taking into account all the information available to us at this time, we find that inadequate justification exists for granting Aloha's request for an exemption.

An exemption request is generally not appropriate where the petitioner is seeking a new or different standard to apply to it to situations that are being faced by the entire industry. Here, Aloha is seeking an exemption from section 382.21(a)(2) primarily because it believes the "standard" dimensions for a folding wheelchair used by DOT are outdated. Granting Aloha's exemption request would place Aloha in a preferred regulatory position vis-a-vis other carriers, which are required to have designated in-cabin priority space in new aircraft for the stowage of a standard-size folding wheelchair. We are also not persuaded by Aloha's argument for granting relief for the industry as a whole. An exemption is not the appropriate vehicle to establish a new or different industry standard and the issues raised by Aloha and Hawaiian are better addressed by general rulemaking rather than by exemption.

Indeed, DOT recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to revise its rule requiring nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in air travel. This NPRM, among other things, addresses the issues raised by Aloha in its exemption request by seeking comments as to whether the dimensions for a passenger's folding wheelchair that have been used in DOT enforcement actions are appropriate. To the extent comments on the relevant provision were received, they will be considered in the rulemaking.

On this basis, we find that granting the requested exemption from the provision requiring the onboard stowage of wheelchairs is not in the public interest, and we deny Aloha's request for an exemption.

By: Norman Mineta