Opinion ID: 164441
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The ACAA

Text: 18 Congress passed the ACAA in 1986 as § 404(c) of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. See Pub.L. 99-435, § 2(a), 100 Stat. 1080 (1986). The statute was amended and recodified in 1994. In 2000, Congress added two subsections concerning the manner in which the statute may be enforced. See Love, 310 F.3d at 1350 n. 1 (discussing the legislative history of the ACAA). Currently, the ACAA provides: 19 In general. — In providing air transportation, an air carrier, including (subject to section 40105(b)) any foreign air carrier, may not discriminate against an otherwise qualified individual on the following grounds: 20 (1) the individual has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. 21 (2) the individual has a record of such an impairment. 22 (3) the individual is regarded as having such an impairment. 23 49 U.S.C. § 41705(a). The remaining sections of the ACAA provide that each violation of the statute constitutes a separate offense and that the Secretary of Transportation shall investigate each complaint of a violation [of the ACAA]. 49 U.S.C. § 41705(b)-(c). 24 Congress passed the ACAA in response to a Supreme Court decision, United States Department of Transportation v. Paralyzed Veterans of America, 477 U.S. 597, 106 S.Ct. 2705, 91 L.Ed.2d 494 (1986), which held that section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act did not apply to commercial airlines because they were not the intended beneficiaries of federal airport construction grants. See generally Curtis D. Edmonds, When Pigs Fly: Litigation Under the Air Carrier Access Act, 78 N.D. L.Rev. 687, 689-92 (2002) (discussing legislative history of the ACAA). [T]he practical effect of DOT v. PVA [was] to leave handicapped air travelers subject to the possibility of discriminatory, inconsistent, and unpredictable treatment on the part of air carriers. S.REP. No. 99-0400, at 2 (1986), reprinted in, 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2328, 2329. The statute was intended to prohibit specifically discrimination against otherwise qualified handicapped individuals. Id. at 2330. 25 The ACAA is part of a broad statutory and regulatory scheme concerning aviation programs. As we note below, there are a number of provisions that apply to the ACAA, including those relating to the investigation of complaints, the conduct of administration hearings, the imposition of fines and other administration sanctions, and the appeal of administrative decisions to the courts.