 |
Passengers With Special Needs
North American Airlines is committed to providing passengers with special needs dignified, professional and courteous service at all times. Our team of employees is trained to provide this service to insure your travel aboard our flights is satisfactory in all respects.
- Reservations
- Designated seating
- Assistive Devices
- Boarding Assistance
- Service Animals
- Therapeutic Oxygen
- Attendants
- Complaint Resolution Officials for Customers with Special Needs
-
Reservations
North American Airlines Reservations Staff is the initial point of contact for passengers with special needs. Disabled passengers should bring their special needs to the attention of our Reservations Staff who will communicate such special needs to those individuals responsible for insuring your travel on a North American Airlines flight meets your requirements.
-
Designated seating
Qualified disabled passengers requiring special seating on board the aircraft should inform our reservations personnel AND our check-in staff upon check in for the flight. All of our aircraft have a limited number of designated seats for qualified disabled passengers requiring special seating. Adjacent seats are provided, under certain circumstances, for customers with disabilities who must travel with a companion for assistance.
-
Assistive Devices
- Carry on Assistive Devices
Canes, walkers, CPAP machines and other assistive devices capable of being collapsed small enough to fit into approved over head and under seat stowage areas are welcome and do not count toward an individuals carry-on item limit. Transport of such items is free of charge. They must be small enough to be stowed in such a manner as not to protrude into any seating row floor space or main aisle. Items such as seat cushions, detachable control boxes, armrests or footrest may also be carried on board with you.
- Wheelchair Batteries
Batteries lacking non-spillable manufacturer labeling and spillable batteries that cannot remain in an upright position must be placed in special shipping boxes and treated in accordance with dangerous goods packaging procedures. Due to the advance notice requirements that may apply to processing dangerous goods, passengers must advise North American at least 48 hours before departure of the need for an appropriate battery box.
Non-collapsible wheelchairs/scooters are accepted as checked baggage. These items can be checked at the main ticket counter or the departure gate. Special wheelchair service that allows you to check your wheelchair at the departure gate and claim it at your arrival gate is available at all airports served with scheduled service and is free of charge.
-
Boarding Assistance
Passengers with special needs, upon request, will be provided pre-boarding assistance allowing the opportunity to be seated prior to general boarding. A special aisle chair on board the aircraft is available to assist passengers who are unable to walk. All North American Airlines aircraft are equipped with specially designed seats that feature moveable aisle armrest to help make seating easier.
-
Service Animals
Dogs and other service animals used by individuals with a disability may accompany the person on a flight at no charge. Customers requiring accompaniment by a service animal are expected to have reasonable evidence of such need in the form of identification cards, other written documentation, or the presence of harnesses or markings on harnesses, tags, or reasonable credible verbal assurances of the qualified individual with a disability using the animal.
-
Therapeutic Oxygen
North American Airlines provides onboard therapeutic oxygen, subject to availability. Our reservations specialist will arrange for this service upon 48 hours advance notice. Customers must have a doctor’s prescription advising of the liters per minute flow rate. An additional fee is charged for therapeutic oxygen.
-
Attendants
North American may require that a qualified individual with a disability meeting any of the following criteria travel with an attendant as a condition of being provided air transportation, if it is determined by our staff that an attendant is essential for safety:
- A person traveling in a stretcher or incubator. The attendant for such a person must be capable of attending to the passenger’s in-flight medical needs;
- A person who, because of a mental disability is unable to comprehend or respond appropriately to safety instructions form carrier personnel, including the safety briefing required by 14 CFR 121.571 (a) (3) and (a) (4).
- A person with a mobility impairment so severe that the person is unable to assist in his or her own evacuation of the aircraft;
- A person who has both severe hearing and severe vision impairments, if the person cannot establish some means of communication with carrier personnel, adequate to permit transmission of the safety briefing required by 14 CFR 121.571 (a) (3) and (a) (4).
- If the carrier determines that a person meeting the criteria of paragraph 7. B. through D. of
this section must travel with an attendant, contrary to the individual's self-assessment that he or
she is capable of traveling independently, carrier will not charge for the transportation of the
attendant while accompanying a qualified disabled passenger requiring an attendant at the carrier
discretion:
- If, because there is not a seat available on a flight for an attendant whom carrier has determined to be necessary, and a disabled person with a confirmed reservation is unable to travel on the flight, the disabled person will be eligible for denied boarding compensation.
- For purposes of determining whether a seat is available for an attendant, the attendant shall be deemed to have checked in at the same time as the disabled person.
-
Complaint Resolution Officials for Customers with Special Needs
Employees trained as local complaint resolutions officials are available during operating hours at airports served by North American Airlines. A Corporate Complaint Resolution Official is available to assist our local complaint resolution officials 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
|
