'UNDIGNIFIED'

American Airlines Hit With $50M Fine for Passenger Mistreatment

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the airline was “one of the worst offenders.”

American Airlines has been fined $50 million for mistreatment of passengers with disabilities, the Department of Transportation announced Wednesday. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on a call with reporters that American Airlines “provided unsafe and undignified physical assistance to passengers on a number of occasions that, at times, resulted in injuries” between 2019 and 2023. The fine is the largest ever levied by the department related to misconduct regarding disabled passengers. Buttigieg said that while their investigation uncovered wrongdoing by other airlines as well, “American Airlines appear to be one of the worst offenders.” American Airlines said in a statement that it has invested $175 million into “service, infrastructure and training to improve the travel experience” for customers using mobility aids, and that its mishandled scooter and wheelchair reports have declined by 20% since 2022. The DoT told NBC News that American Airlines consistently had the second-highest mishandling rate from 2019 to 2023.