DOT AND SOUTHWEST AIRLINES AGREE ON ACCESSIBLE AIRPORT KIOSKS

December 9, 2016

On November 1, 2016 the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) reached an agreement with Southwest Airlines in which Southwest will ensure that at least 50 percent of its kiosks at U.S. airports are accessible to passengers with disabilities by September 30, 2017 as opposed to the earlier deadline of December 12, 2016 as required by DOT’s accessible kiosk rule.  Any automated kiosk that Southwest installs after that date will also be an accessible model, so that in the future, 100 percent of its kiosks will be accessible to passengers with disabilities.

The agreement stems from Southwest self-reporting to DOT its temporary inability to comply with the Department’s final rule on kiosk accessibility within the time period specified due to the scheduled deployment of a new reservation system which interfaces with its automated kiosks. Southwest requested an extension until September 30, 2017, (9.5 months after the regulatory deadline and three months after the final system release completing the migration to its new reservation system), to integrate, activate, and test accessible software on all kiosks installed on or after December 12, 2016.

Pursuant to the parties’ agreement DOT’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings will refrain from taking enforcement action against Southwest for its temporary noncompliance with the Department’s kiosk accessibility requirements from December 12, 2016, to September 30, 2017, provided that Southwest undertakes the compensatory measures outlined in the agreement, and submits verifications and certifications within that timeframe.  Some of the compensatory measures agreed to by the parties include:

Compliance and Mitigation Plan:

• No later than September 30, 2017, Southwest must: (1) Provide at least 50 percent accessible kiosks across its entire proprietary kiosk fleet in service at U.S. airports with annual enplanements of 10,000 passengers or more; and (2) Ensure that any inaccessible CUSS software that it provided to covered U.S. airports for kiosks installed on or after December 12, 2016, is replaced with accessible CUSS software.
• After September 30, 2017, Southwest agreed to install only accessible kiosks in its proprietary kiosk fleet system-wide to ensure that 100 percent of new kiosk installations are accessible models in the future and to deliver only accessible kiosk software to be run on accessible CUSS kiosks in service at U.S. airports with annual enplanements of 10,000 passengers and to ensure that 100 percent of the Southwest software running on accessible CUSS kiosks is accessible.

Verification and Certification of Plan Implementation:

By October 31, 2017, Southwest must provide, with supporting documentation, a sworn statement from a responsible company official verifying and certifying: (1) the total number of its proprietary kiosks (accessible and inaccessible) in service at U.S. airports with annual enplanements of 10,000 passengers or more as of September 30, 2017; (2) the total number of its accessible proprietary kiosks in service at U.S. airports with annual enplanements of 10,000 passengers or more as of September 30, 2017; (3) the total number of CUSS kiosks in service at U.S. airports with annual enplanements of 10,000 passengers or more on which Southwest kiosk software (accessible and inaccessible) runs; (4) the total number of CUSS kiosks in service at U.S. airports with annual enplanements of 10,000 passengers or more on which Southwest accessible kiosk software runs; and (5) the total number of accessible CUSS kiosks on which accessible Southwest kiosk software runs that were installed on or after December 12, 2016, at U.S. airports with annual enplanements of 10,000 passengers or more.

See: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOT-OST-2016-0202-0001

If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).

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