- A new study analyzed airlines and wheelchair accessibility and found JetBlue to be the top carrier for travelers with wheelchairs.
- The airline enplaned 29,147 wheelchairs and mobility devices in 2024.
- Delta was also rated highly for having a low percentage of mishandled wheelchairs.
If you are planning on flying with a wheelchair, there’s one airline with a higher approval rating than its competitors.
A new study by InsureMyTrip ranks which airlines are great with wheelchairs and which ones fall short based on data from the Air Travel Consumer Report by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The analysis looked at the number of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters, and took into account the quantity of enplaned wheelchairs and scooters to calculate the ranking.
The top-ranked airline for wheelchair accessibility is JetBlue, which boasts the highest positive sentiment in the survey at 97 percent. JetBlue enplaned 29,147 wheelchairs and other mobility devices in 2024.
Delta Airlines also ranked well, with the lowest percentage of mishandled wheelchairs. The airline is also in the process of designing a seat that will allow travelers with wheelchairs to use their wheelchairs on the plane.
Ranked third best is Alaska Airlines.
The lowest ranked airline is Frontier Airlines, with the highest percentage of negative sentiment and the highest rate of one-star reviews mentioning wheelchairs. American Airlines and Spirit Airlines also received low rankings. (In 2024, the Department of Transportation fined American Airlines $50 million because of its treatment of fliers with wheelchairs.)
More than five million people in the U.S. use a wheelchair while traveling, and mobility devices can cost thousands of dollars, making travel with certain airlines a potentially fraught and expensive experience. “Air travel should be accessible for everyone, but that’s far from the reality. We hope this study shines a light on which airlines are getting it right and which have room for improvement—so wheelchair users can make an informed decision when booking a flight,” Sara Boisvert, director of marketing at InsureMyTrip, said in a statement shared with Travel + Leisure.
In December, new rules from the Department of Transportation came into effect requiring airlines to have stricter standards for accommodating passengers with wheelchairs, as well as requiring airlines to compensate travelers for any damage to their wheelchairs. Several U.S. airlines are challenging the rules in court, claiming it is regulatory overreach.
