[Nfbc-info] United Ducks appeal over kiosks for the blind

[Brian Buhrow]

	hello.  I think I read in one of our publications, or maybe it was a
talk at one of the conventions, that the FAA is only requiring airlines
make 25% of their kiosks accessible by 2025.  By that time, everyone in
charge today will be gone and I'm sure they'll try to push it off for
another 10 years.  So, hopefully, we have a further strategy for getting
this done before today's blind college students retire.
-Brian

On Jan 28, 10:13pm, Lisa Irving via Nfbc-info wrote:
} Subject: Re: [Nfbc-info] United Ducks appeal over kiosks for the blind
} This means that United and other air carriers don't have to make their
} kiosks accessable until when? 
} 
} 
} 
} -----Original Message-----
} From: Nfbc-info [mailto:nfbc-info-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Charles
} Krugman via Nfbc-info
} Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2016 9:48 PM
} To: NFBC <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
} Cc: Charles Krugman <ckrugman at sbcglobal.net>
} Subject: [Nfbc-info] United Ducks appeal over kiosks for the blind
} 
} United Ducks Appeal Over Kiosks for the Blind
} 
} By MARIA DINZEO
} 
} 
} 
} SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - United Airlines need not face a class action over its
} limited number of kiosks accessible to blind travelers at California
} airports,
} 
} the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday.
} 
}      Issuing its decision 38 months after hearing
} 
} oral arguments,
} 
} the three-judge panel said federal statutes pre-empt the National Federation
} for the Blind's claims for violation of California's Unruh Civil Rights Act.
} 
}      Such claims furthermore do not relate to a "service" provided by
} United, as outlined by the Airline Deregulation Act, according to the
} ruling.
} 
}      The National Federation of the Blind sued United Airlines back in
} October 2010, joined by three individuals - Michael May, Michael Hingson and
} Christina
} 
} Thomas.
} 
}      Rather than offering audio output or other blind-friendly alternatives,
} United's machines operated exclusively by video and touch-screen navigation,
} 
} according to the complaint
} 
}      U.S. District Judge William Alsup dismissed the action, finding the
} claims pre-empted by both the Airline Deregulation Act and the Air Carrier
} Access
} 
} Act.
} 
}      Affirming on Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit pointed to its en banc opinion
} in the 1998 case Charas v. Trans World Airlines, which determined that the
} term
} 
} "service" in the Americans with Disabilities Act refers to the provision of
} air transportation - such as "the prices, schedules, origins and
} destinations
} 
} of the point-to-point transportation of passengers, cargo or mail," not
} airline-provided amenities like drinks and luggage handling.
} 
}      Though the Federal Aviation Act contains a broad savings clause, it did
} not result in a reversal today.
} 
}      "According to the federation, any state-law claims that fall outside
} the scope of the ADA express preemption provision are necessarily preserved
} by
} 
} the FAA's savings clause. Not so," Judge Marsha Berzon wrote for a
} three-judge panel.
} 
}      Under the federation's interpretation, "a passenger could sue an
} airline for violating any state standard of care not expressly preempted by
} the ADA,
} 
} notwithstanding federal regulations covering in depth the particular field
} at issue," Berzon noted.
} 
}      "The result would be chaotic."
} 
}      New Department of Transportations regulations on accessibility of
} airport kiosks furthermore speak "directly to the concerns raised by the
} federation's
} 
} suit," the ruling states.
} 
}      "Given its great detail and pervasive extent, the new regulation
} preempts any state regulation of that same field," Berzon wrote.
} 
} Document
} 
} Source:
} 
} http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/01/19/united-ducks-appeal-over-kiosks-for
} -the-blind.ht
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>-- End of excerpt from Lisa Irving via Nfbc-info