WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation

Department said on Monday that it will not enforce key

provisions of a rule issued in December by former President Joe

Biden's administration that requires new consumer protections

for disabled passengers using wheelchairs.

United Airlines, Delta Air Lines ( DAL ), American

Airlines ( AAL ), Southwest Airlines ( LUV ), JetBlue Airways ( JBLU )

and airline trade group Airlines for America filed suit

in February challenging the rule that set stricter standards for

accommodating passengers with wheelchairs. The rule also

requires carriers to reimburse passengers for damage to

wheelchairs.

USDOT said in a filing it is writing a new rule and will not

enforce the requirements imposing airline liability for

mishandled wheelchairs or a requirement for airlines to

reimburse passengers using wheelchairs the difference between a

fare on a flight taken and the fare the passenger would have

paid on a flight if their wheelchair could have fit in the cabin

or cargo compartment of a different aircraft.

President Donald Trump's administration also will not

enforce a requirement airlines notify passengers about their

rights in writing when they are checking wheelchairs or

scooters.

Last year, USDOT said an estimated 5.5 million Americans

use a wheelchair and data shows that for every 100 wheelchairs

or scooters transported on domestic flights at least one is

damaged, delayed, or lost.

A spokesman for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said

the department has and will continue to support flyers with

disabilities and will enforce other provisions of the rule,

adding the department is reevaluating whether those provisions

"adhere to statute or if they are redundant. No final decision

has been made."

In October 2024, USDOT fined American Airlines ( AAL ) a record $50

million for its treatment of disabled passengers, including

failing to provide some with adequate assistance and mishandling

wheelchairs.