Delta Air Lines: disability assistance problem

Collect

• assistance request confirmation
• dates
• names
• photos of damage

Steps

1. At the airport, ask any Delta representative for a Complaints Resolution Official (CRO). CROs are available at all airport locations.

2. Call Accessible Travel Services for help with services.

   PhoneAccessible Travel Services +1-404-209-3434

3. File a written complaint online or by mail.

   FormComment & Complaint form

More contacts for this issue

Facts you can cite

• Deadline

  Delta's Customer Service Plan says Delta gives a dispositive response to disability-related complaints within 30 days.

  Source: delta.com, verified 2026-10-12

Rules in force

• Air Carrier Access Act rules - complaints and wheelchair handling
  14 CFR part 382 (Wheelchair Rule, 89 FR 102398, December 17, 2024)

  Airlines must make a Complaints Resolution Official (CRO) available at every airport they serve, and must answer written disability complaints within 30 days. Under the 2024 Wheelchair Rule, airlines must deliver delayed wheelchairs quickly, repair or replace damaged ones, provide loaners, and pay based on the original purchase price on domestic trips. DOT is not enforcing four of the 2024 provisions until April 30, 2027.

  Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  9 citable points

  • Contact

    Carriers that operate aircraft with 19 or more passenger seats must designate Complaints Resolution Officials and make a CRO available at each airport they serve during all times they operate there, in person or by telephone at no cost to the passenger.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    When a CRO handles a complaint about something that already happened, the CRO must give the passenger a written statement that summarizes the facts and either the steps the carrier proposes (if it agrees there was a violation) or its reasons (if it finds none), and that states the right to pursue DOT enforcement. The statement should be given at the airport if possible; otherwise it must be sent within 30 calendar days of the complaint.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    A carrier must send a dispositive written response within 30 days of receiving a written disability complaint, admitting or denying a violation and informing the passenger of the right to pursue DOT enforcement. A carrier need not respond to a complaint postmarked or transmitted more than 45 days after the incident, except complaints referred by DOT.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Deadline

    A delayed checked wheelchair or assistive device must be delivered within 24 hours of the passenger's arrival for domestic flights, and within 30 hours of arrival for long international flights (more than 12 hours).

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    When a wheelchair or assistive device is lost, damaged or pilfered, the passenger may have the carrier repair or replace it with a device of equivalent or greater function at the carrier's cost, or use a preferred repair vendor with the carrier paying. The carrier must notify the passenger in writing of these rights, including the right to a loaner and to contact a CRO.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    The carrier must use best efforts to provide and pay for an adequate loaner device. If the loaner is not adequate, the passenger may obtain one, and the carrier must reimburse the cost within 30 days of the request.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Limit

    For transportation covered by 14 CFR part 254 (domestic), the baggage liability limit does not apply to wheelchairs or other assistive devices, and compensation for a lost, damaged or destroyed device is based on its original purchase price. On international flights, Montreal Convention liability limits apply.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    Not enforced until April 30, 2027: the rebuttable presumption that a device not returned in the condition received was mishandled in violation of the ACAA (382.130(a)); refresher training frequency (382.141(a)(6)); the notification in 382.125(e); and fare difference reimbursement when a wheelchair does not fit the aircraft (382.132). DOT says it may modify these in a new rulemaking. Do not cite these four as currently enforced.

    Source: federalregister.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Policy

    DOT stated that its enforcement pause does not affect enforcement of the Wheelchair Rule's other requirements.

    Source: federalregister.gov, verified 2026-10-12

• DOT automatic refund rule for airline tickets and ancillary fees (2024)
  14 CFR part 260 and 14 CFR part 262 (89 FR 32760, April 26, 2024; amended 89 FR 65534, August 12, 2024)

  Airlines operating to, from or within the U.S. must give a full cash refund (to the original form of payment) when they cancel or significantly change a flight and the passenger does not accept the alternative. Refunds are due within 7 business days (credit card) or 20 calendar days (other payment). Airlines must also refund checked bag fees for significantly delayed bags and fees for paid extras that were not provided. Until July 7, 2027, DOT does not enforce the rule in one narrow case: a flight that is only renumbered, with no significant change or delay.

  Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  1 citable point

  • Policy

    A "significantly delayed or changed flight" is one where, because of the carrier's change, the passenger departs 3 or more hours earlier or arrives 3 or more hours later (domestic itineraries), or 6 or more hours earlier or later (international itineraries); departs from or arrives at a different airport; has more connection points; or is downgraded to a lower class of service. For a passenger with a disability, a change of connecting airport or a substitute aircraft without a needed accessibility feature also counts.

    Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12

If that fails, escalate

Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.

1. Customer service

   PhoneGeneral Sales & Services (reservations, U.S.) +1-800-221-1212

2. Written complaint

   FormComment & Complaint form

3. Federal regulator

   RegulatorU.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Aviation Consumer Protection +1-800-778-4838

4. Card or bank dispute

   Fair Credit Billing Act billing-error and purchase-dispute rights (Regulation Z)

   Electronic Fund Transfer Act error resolution and unauthorized-transfer liability (Regulation E)

   Card dispute for a refund Delta owes but has not paid.

State agencies for this sector: your state’s attorney general. Find yours in the list of state agencies, or as JSON in states/<code>.json (for example states/ny.json).

Watch out

Related

• Disability assistance problem at other companies
• How Delta Air Lines complaints actually go (dossier, checked 2026-10-12)
• Airlines — how complaints work
• Delta Air Lines: flight cancelled or significantly changed
• Delta Air Lines: long delay
• Delta Air Lines: delayed bag
• Delta Air Lines: lost bag
• Delta Air Lines: damaged bag
• Delta Air Lines: bumped or denied boarding
• Delta Air Lines: travel credit or voucher problem
• Delta Air Lines: paid extra and did not get it