American Airlines Accessibility Plan
2026 – 2029
General
Introduction
American Airlines has a deep-rooted history leading the industry through innovation and firsts, including hiring the first Black U.S. commercial airline pilot, hiring the first female U.S. commercial airline pilot, launching the first loyalty program of any major carrier, and becoming the first airline to introduce airport lounges. We pride ourselves on continuing this legacy of firsts into the area of accessibility.
Inclusion is one of the cornerstones of American’s strategy and is foundational to our purpose of caring for people on life’s journey. A key component of this strategy is creating a positive travel experience for all our customers when they fly with us, including customers with disabilities. American has placed a particular focus on giving our team members the tools and resources needed to properly assist customers with disabilities, including resources to properly handle and track mobility devices.
In support of our accessibility goals, we established an Accessibility Council and a Customer Accessibility Team to focus on improving the travel experience for our customers with disabilities, which ultimately benefits all our customers. The mission is to advance accessibility by leveraging focused input, broad organization awareness, and internal expertise to be an industry leader in this area. We're seeking to advocate for customers with disabilities, while continually searching for ideas and innovations that lead to measurable improvements to the accessible experience on our airline. Key to making meaningful progress is engaging with our team members and the accessibility community to discuss opportunities and trends that directly impact accessibility.
American Airlines provides service between the United States and Canada through operations at Canadian airports including Toronto (YYZ), Montreal (YUL), Vancouver (YVR), Calgary (YYC), and certain seasonal destinations. Through coordination with airport operators, service providers, employees, customers, and accessibility stakeholders, American works to identify, remove, and prevent accessibility barriers affecting customers with disabilities throughout their travel journey.
We are bringing our mission to life. In 2024, we introduced automated tags for mobility devices, becoming the first U.S. airline to deploy this technology across its network. Since then, we’ve invested more than $175 million in accessibility-related services, infrastructure, technology, and training. And we’re not stopping there.
The Accessible Canada Act defines a barrier as “anything – including physical, architectural, technological, or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice – that hinders the full and equal participation in society of a person with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.” Our Accessibility Plan outlines the ways we are assessing barriers throughout all of American’s services and the plans we have to remove and prevent such barriers in the future.
To request a copy of American Airlines’ Accessibility Plan or Feedback Process Document in an alternate format, or to provide feedback on accessibility at American Airlines, please contact our Customer Relations Department through any of these channels:
| Channel | Contact information |
|---|---|
| Phone | 800-892-3624 682-286-5070 (International) 800-735-2988 (Hearing or speech-impaired assistance) |
| Web form | Contact American |
| Email address | accessibility.feedback@aa.com |
| Mail address | American Airlines Customer Relations 4000 E. Sky Harbor Blvd. Phoenix, AZ 85034 |
A dedicated Accessibility Plan Outreach Coordinator has been designated to receive this feedback.
American Airlines developed our Accessibility Plan based on feedback from customers with disabilities, from internal consultations with our employees, and from external consultations with accessibility advocacy groups. We have benefited from these distinct perspectives and sources of expertise, as they have helped us identify different types of barriers and prioritize our actions. This means we can efficiently tackle barriers while strategically working towards innovative and universal accessibility throughout all of our services.
American has been working with the Open Doors Organization for many years. Open Doors is a non-profit with the purpose of creating a society in which all persons with disabilities have the same consumer opportunities as everyone else.
We have also been working closely with a third-party company who specializes in digital accessibility solutions. With the help of their expertise, American has adopted best practices regarding digital accessibility and continues to make great strides in establishing accessibility across our digital modalities. We will continue working with Evinced with the goal of establishing ourselves as leaders in the digital accessibility space.
American is subject to regulations under subsection 170 (1) of the Canada Transportation Act. This includes the Accessible Transportation for Person with Disabilities Regulations (ATPDR), and the Air Transportation Regulations, Part VII. This Accessibility Plan outlines several of American’s actions to comply with or exceed accessibility requirements. However, the Accessibility Plan is not all-encompassing, and we may be engaged in activities beyond those highlighted here.
Areas described under the Accessible Canada Act
Built Environment
American is committed to creating an accessible travel environment. This commitment means constantly improving our built environment, which includes our aircraft, the signage at our gates, and the means of checking in, checking bags, boarding, and disembarking to ensure accessibility for all of our customers. Throughout our international system, American operates in airports with disparate resources and methods of planning for accessibility. Each airport layout is unique, which results in unique accessibility barriers across the world. American strives to work collaboratively with every airport and ensure our proprietary environment includes accessibility features that meet or exceed expectations.
To that end, American has implemented enhanced technology to support the handling of mobility devices, including automated device tagging and improved information-sharing tools that provide employees with device-specific information and greater visibility throughout the travel journey. These efforts are designed to reduce handling errors and improve the overall customer experience
When operating under so many variables, it is necessary to identify recurring structural barriers to focus on making changes with widespread impact. While American has always taken a holistic approach to accessibility, recent customer and employee feedback, along with industry collaboration, has helped place an added focus on identifying and removing any mobility-related barriers in the built environment.
American already has a well-established system of providing mobility assistance to customers with disabilities at their request. This includes assistance with moving from the curb of the airport to the gate of the departing flight, moving between gates, and moving from their arriving flight to the curb for pick up. However, American recognizes that there is always room for improvement in providing these services and is working to do so by deploying technology and streamlining certain operations to reduce mobility-related barriers in the built environment.
Some identified barriers include:
- Lack of jetbridges. Certain airports outside of Canada do not have jetbridges and aircraft must be boarded and disembarked directly onto the tarmac. This can make it difficult for customers that use wheelchairs and other mobility devices to board and disembark.
- Increased risk of damage to mobility devices due to airport layout and infrastructure. In some airports, the elevators that descend to the tarmac are located far from American’s boarding gates. This layout requires Team Members to travel farther to reach the tarmac with wheelchairs and other mobility devices that must be loaded onto the aircraft after the customer has boarded the plane. A similar impediment arises upon arrival when retrieving and returning wheelchairs and other mobility devices to customers. This increased handling also increases the risk of device damage.
- Installing wheelchair lifts at airports across our system, particularly where lifts are needed due to airport infrastructure. Wheelchair lifts assist Team Members in moving the wheelchairs in and out of airplane stowage, which decreases the possibility of damage to the devices and of injury to Team Members.
- Installing accessible kiosks. American set an internal goal to install a greater percentage of accessible kiosks at our proprietary locations. In Canada, airport kiosks are installed under the shared use model, so American lacks control over the number of accessible kiosks it has access to. However, by exceeding expectations for our proprietary kiosks across the world, American is striving to be an international example for kiosk accessibility in the aviation industry, which we hope will encourage others to do the same. We are currently working to complete our accessible kiosk installation.
- Tracking metrics. Proactively tracking airport station metrics to determine how stations are succeeding in meeting accessibility needs, particularly when it comes to the handling of mobility devices.
- Aircraft accessibility. Supporting the continued study and development of safe and feasible aircraft accessibility features that broaden air travel opportunities for passengers with disabilities. American has been at the forefront of pushing for accessible design of an aircraft’s built environment.
In the coming years, American will continue deploying wheelchair lifts to airports where they are needed, installing accessible kiosks, and tracking station metrics related to the handling of accessibility devices. Customer feedback, along with the data we are collecting, will allow us to make assessments about how to most effectively and efficiently improve accessibility for our customers. We will be able to measure the improvements of stations that have received new technology and additional employee training and focus on making changes to remove barriers at stations with lower metrics.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
American is committed to making our information and communications accessible to people with disabilities. We set our web accessibility standards high and work tirelessly to achieve them. Our team is dedicated to ensuring our sites continue to meet all current laws and guidelines – including the W3C WCAG 2.0 guidelines – and creating a usable experience for all customers. We are continuously educating ourselves and learning through training sessions with advocacy groups, industry partners, and more.
American strives to do a full annual audit of all our digital communications. The accessibility of our website is periodically evaluated and tested using automatic technology, including but not limited to screen readers and screen magnifiers. Our website is also tested by users with disabilities who use these technologies. Additionally, in 2025, American started working with a third-party company who specializes in digital accessibility solutions to push ourselves to achieve an even higher degree of accessibility through training and tools. Through this partnership, American has an improved understanding of the past and present barriers in our digital space and has set goals for continued leadership in digital accessibility.
- Improved site structure. We are working to edit every page on our sites to include appropriate headings, lists, paragraphs, and other formatting for better usability with assistive technology.
- Added text equivalents. We are adding alternative text, captions, and transcripts to images and videos so users who cannot see or hear have a text equivalent to interact with.
- Built for full keyboard access. We are developing new pages with keyboard accessibility in mind so that users can easily tab through a page to find the content they need.
- Create site consistency. We have created templates for our site to ensure consistency. Once customers are familiar with how our pages and menus work, they can expect similar functionality across the site, each time they visit.
- Mobile accessibility. We are working to make our mobile application accessible to all customers, including those who use assistive technology, by incorporating best practices of WCAG 2.1.
- Automated testing. Our digital teams are currently implementing automation testing to monitor and identify any accessibility issues when maintaining page health.
Our digital team has made significant strides in making American’s information accessible, but we are also acutely aware that digital accessibility is an ongoing process. One of our priorities towards achieving universal accessibility of our communication technologies is the accessibility of our mobile application. In the coming years, we will continue working with services like Evinced, conduct external testing of our digital communications, and use customer feedback to identify and remove barriers in American’s information and communication technologies.
Communication, other than ICT
American is committed to communicating information about our services in diverse and accessible ways. We will continue to consult with people with disabilities to determine how best to communicate information about all aspects of our services (communication technologies; the procurement of goods, services, and facilities; the design and delivery of our services; and transportation).
American has an established process for communicating critical travel information to customers with disabilities. At the time of booking and before travel, customers with disabilities have the option to request the help of a Special Assistance Coordinator. These coordinators can help with medical or special-assistance related items needed by the customer. Additionally, any accessibility needs are recorded and transmitted to the front line and in-flight service crew. Services such as separate safety briefings are provided for customers who are deaf or hard of hearing as needed.
Customers checking mobility devices now receive status update notifications when their devices have been loaded and unloaded from the aircraft.
Though our process for communicating with our customers with disabilities is well-established, American is always working to improve the delivery of our services.
- We recently enhanced and implemented trainings for our customer care and operations staff on best practices for communicating and engaging with customers with disabilities.
- We are working on improving our processes for capturing customer needs and transmitting that information to our frontline staff, particularly through automation. Our goal is to be able to automatically transmit the data received by the Special Assistance Coordinators to the employees who will be assisting those customers.
- American has a Disability Team, which responds to customer disability requests during and after travel. The Disability Team is accessible through American’s website or by phone, including for customers with hearing or disabilities.
American will continue to perform an analysis of its accessible communications and update its employee trainings on communicating and engaging with customers with disabilities. Our goal is to increase the amount of training received by American Airlines employees on the topic of accessible communication.
Procurement of Goods, Services, and Facilities
American is committed to procuring our goods, services, and facilities from suppliers that comply with accessibility regulations, and ensuring that any goods procured are accessible. Currently, we require that our vendors providing services within covered airports be compliant with the Accessible Canada Act (ACA). Feedback from customers with disabilities using our vendor services is critical for American to identify barriers and areas of improvement regarding these services. Additionally, we are implementing consultations within our process of procuring goods, including aircraft, to ensure accessibility.
- Incorporating various types of accessibility enhancements to our aircraft cabin when developing new components and configurations. Representatives from interested organizations are brought in to experience our seats and other cabin elements to validate access (entry, egress, layout, and reach) and to aid in development and training of the transfer processes of people with reduced mobility.
- Reviewing our internal processes for obtaining goods, services, and facilities.
American is leveraging our Accessibility Council and Customer Accessibility Team to work with our procurement teams to ensure American’s procurement practices are accessible. In the coming years, we will use ongoing consultations and feedback to identify any additional procurement practices necessary to improve our purchase of goods and services.
Design and Delivery of Programs and Services
American is committed to the accessible design and delivery of our programs and services. Internally, we have achieved great success in creating an accessible work environment. For the last nine years, we have been recognized as one of the best places to work under the Disability Equality Index. We are continuously working to ensure that our delivery of programs and services is just as inclusive and accessible as our work environment.
American is a participant in Universal Access in Aviation (UAIA), a three-day conference that brings together aviation access professionals for an open exchange of ideas and best practice solutions focused on improving air travel for people with disabilities and older adults.
With the information gathered from conferences such as UAIA, consultations with organizations such as Open Doors and Evinced, and feedback from our customers, American has been increasingly focused on how we build accessibility into our services. For example, this past year we have focused on updating our processes for handling mobility devices and engaging with customers with disabilities. Our Airport Readiness team has been developing and implementing enhanced employee trainings to ensure all staff are well equipped to execute our updated processes for accessibility.
Employee trainings. We are conducting enhanced employee accessibility trainings to improve our delivery of accessibility services. The trainings are tailored to the services provided by our customer care and operations teams. This year, American enhanced accessibility training for employees who assist customers with disabilities and handle mobility devices. These trainings include hands-on components designed to reinforce proper mobility-device handling, support greater employee awareness of accessibility needs, and improve service delivery throughout the travel journey
Improved mobility device documentation process. We are implementing enhanced mobility device documentation processes, including photographic documentation at key points in the travel journey. This initiative is intended to improve accountability and strengthen the handling and protection of customers' wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
American recognizes that employee trainings must continue to evolve with our understanding of disabilities and identification of barriers to our services. Through ongoing consultation with our employees, customers with disabilities, advocacy groups, and partners, American will continue to develop our employee training and the design of our services to improve accessibility.
In the coming years, American plans to have a robust data automation system to ensure our frontline employees are equipped with the information provided to us by our customers with disabilities. This way, our employees will be better prepared and equipped to service the unique needs of each of our customers.
Transportation
Ease of mobility is at the heart of American’s business. We recognize that as we develop and improve our transportation services, employees and customers will identify new and potential barriers to transportation. Currently, we ensure that all our transportation services used to and from terminals comply with the Canadian Transportation Act.
Consulting with our employees and customers with disabilities to identify barriers in the use of transportation services to and from American terminals.
Through feedback from our employees and customers with disabilities, American will analyze our transportation services provided in airports. We will use this analysis to work with our vendors to support greater accessibility for our customers.
Conclusion
American Airlines is an industry leader in innovation and accessibility. We take an all-angles approach to incorporating accessibility into everything we do. In this Accessibility Plan, we have identified areas of growth and goals for improved accessibility. We plan to continue addressing present and future barriers to accessibility by focusing on our growth areas, listening to feedback, and making ongoing changes to our operations. We will revisit this Plan to ensure that we are always advancing with accessibility in mind.
Updated July 2026