We wrote a couple of weeks ago that Southwest Airlines is now looking at how they offer seating and boarding, and seeing if and how any changes could be made.
Their ultimate decision about this might be more financial than anything – being able to charge for seat assignments can be extremely lucrative (just ask nearly every other airline out there). But IF they switch to a “pay to choose your seat” model, you can’t tell me that maybe a small part of that decision will be because of ongoing complaints about the vast increase in the number of people who identify as “preboarders.”
Southwest’s preboarding policy
Southwest’ preboarding policy has changed very little since at least 2017:
Preboarding is available prior to general boarding for Customers with disabilities who need a specific seat to accommodate a disability, need assistance boarding the aircraft, or need to stow an assistive device.
A Customer Service Agent at the ticket or departure gate counter can help with this accommodation, and you’ll be asked questions to determine if you qualify. You’ll receive a new boarding pass marked with PRBD if you qualify, which lets the Operations Agent at boarding know that you can preboard. Remember that you can’t occupy an exit seat if you preboard.
One travel companion may preboard with you. If you feel you need an exception to this, please discuss your needs with a Customer Service Agent at the gate when requesting preboarding.
If you’re preboarding because you need a specific seat, speak with the Operations Agent after getting your new boarding pass but before preboarding starts.
Customers with disabilities who simply need a little extra time to board or be seated or otherwise do not qualify for preboarding may board between the “A” and “B” groups, before Family Boarding. A Customer Service Agent at the ticket counter or departure gate can give you a new boarding pass marked with XT, which lets the Operations Agent at boarding know that you can board before Family Boarding.
If you read the whole thing, you’ll see that, technically, preboarding is only supposed to be for, “…customers with disabilities who need a specific seat to accommodate a disability, need assistance boarding the aircraft, or need to stow an assistive device.”
Furthermore, “customers with disabilities who simply need a little extra time to board or be seated or otherwise do not qualify for preboarding may board between the “A” and “B” groups…”
But really, can anyone remember the last time a gate agent reinforced that? I can’t. Instead, it’s 10, 20, or even 30 people, mainly in airport wheelchairs, waiting to preboard. It was usually only a handful of people a couple of years ago. But then influencers started posting about the so-called “hack” of how to board Southwest planes earlier (and then save seats for their party of 6 because there’s no official policy for saving seats, either). And people started saying, “I want a piece of that!”
Some disabilities are invisible but…
However during my career, I also saw adult children borrow their parents’ “disabled driver” placards while they went food shopping, while the parent stayed home. I was asked by patients to alter what I saw them do in therapy vs. what I documented, so they could get therapy for longer. I saw so-called “homebound” patients being driven (or occasionally independently driving) to Blockbuster Video and Borders Book Shop, and bumped into one patient at an Outback Steakhouse. (All of that’s totally opposite of the definition of being homebound. Someone who drives or can be driven to retail stores and restaurants can be driven to outpatient therapy, which costs insurance companies a whole lot less than someone going to their home to give them therapy).
So yes, there’s no question that some people are 100% legit. However there are also some who are undoubtedly gaming the system.
Why can’t Southwest ask for proof?
This all leads us to a question I’ve seen time and time again: why can’t Southwest just ask for proof of a disability that shows a passenger needs to preboard?
Simply put, it’s illegal to do that.
ACAA, DOT and CFR
The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) became a law during the Reagan administration in 1986. ACAA makes it illegal for airlines to discriminate against passengers because of their disability. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) enforces the ACAA, which applies to all flights to, from, or within the United States.
The DOT has published a Bill of Rights for passengers who have disabilities. This Bill of Rights describes the fundamental rights of air travelers with disabilities under the Air Carrier Access Act and its implementing regulation, 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 382. They include:
1. The Right to Be Treated with Dignity and Respect.
2. The Right to Receive Information About Servicws and Aircraft Capabilities and Limitations.
3. The Right to Receive Information in an Accessible Format.
4. The Right to Accessible Airport Facilities.
5. The Right to Receive Prompt and Adequate Wheelchair, Guide, and Other Assistance at Airports and on Aircraft.
6. The Right to Assistance on the Airports (including the Right to Preboard).
7. The Right to Travel with an Assistive Device or Service Animal.
8. The Right to Receive Seating Accommodations.
9. The Right to Accessible Aircraft Features.
10. The Right to Resolution of a Disability-Related Issue.
But it’s that code of federal regulations that spells it out:
TL/DR – what does that all mean?
§ 382.23 means the only time an airline can require any sort of medical certificate is if the passenger is traveling in a stretcher or incubator, needs medical oxygen during the flight, has a medical condition where there’s doubt the passenger could complete the flight without extraordinary medical assistance, or if they have a communicable disease or condition that could pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others on the plane.
Except for those instances, airlines simply aren’t allowed, by law, to ask for medical documentation or any other sort of proof of a disability.
So there’s nothing Southwest can do to stop 30 people from preboarding?
Nope.
Well, except for implementing some form of assigned seating. And even then, people who say they have certain disabilities could still board first. But if they’re assigned seat 19E, that’s the seat they’ll go to, whether they board first, last, or somewhere in between.
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