accept payment for flight amenities such as seating upgrades/meals/WiFi access, rebook tickets, etc.), the accessible kiosks must provide all the same functions as the inaccessible kiosks in that location. These days many kiosks provide a broad range of functionality beyond simple Kiosks that perform different functions are considered to be of different types. Accessible automated airport kiosks must provide all the functions provided to customers at that location at all times. For example, it is unacceptable for the accessible automated airport kiosks at a particular location to only enable passengers to check-in and print out boarding passes while the inaccessible automated airport kiosks at that location also enable passengers to select or change seating, upgrade class of travel, change to an earlier or later flight, generate baggage tags and purchase inflight Wi-Fi sessions or other ancillary services. Whatever functions are available on inaccessible automated airport kiosks must also be available to customers using accessible airport kiosks at the same location. As noted above, the 25 percent requirement also applies to each location at the airport where kiosks are installed. It is not sufficient for a carrier or an airport to merely comply with the percentage for the airport as a whole, or even for a given terminal building if there are kiosks in more than one location in the terminal. Based on data from commenters who estimated airport kiosk life spans, we estimate that the typical kiosk life span is no more than five to seven years. We believe it is reasonable to conclude that well before the end of the 10-year period after the effective date of this rule virtually all airport kiosks will have reached the end of their life span. As such, a total of at least 25 percent of airport kiosks in each location at a U.S. airport should have been replaced with an accessible kiosk by then. To ensure this outcome, we have added requirements that both carriers and airport operators must ensure that at least 25 percent of automated kiosk provided in each location at the airport must be accessible by ten years after the effective date of the rule.
accept payment for flight amenities such as seating upgrades/meals/WiFi access, rebook tickets, etc.), the accessible kiosks must provide all the same functions as the inaccessible kiosks in that location. These days many kiosks provide a broad range of functionality beyond simple Kiosks that perform different functions are considered to be of different types. Accessible automated airport kiosks must provide all the functions provided to customers at that location at all times. For example, it is unacceptable for the accessible automated airport kiosks at a particular location to only enable passengers to check-in and print out boarding passes while the inaccessible automated airport kiosks at that location also enable passengers to select or change seating, upgrade class of travel, change to an earlier or later flight, generate baggage tags and purchase inflight Wi-Fi sessions or other ancillary services. Whatever functions are available on inaccessible automated airport kiosks must also be available to customers using accessible airport kiosks at the same location. As noted above, the 25 percent requirement also applies to each location at the airport where kiosks are installed. It is not sufficient for a carrier or an airport to merely comply with the percentage for the airport as a whole, or even for a given terminal building if there are kiosks in more than one location in the terminal. Based on data from commenters who estimated airport kiosk life spans, we estimate that the typical kiosk life span is no more than five to seven years. We believe it is reasonable to conclude that well before the end of the 10-year period after the effective date of this rule virtually all airport kiosks will have reached the end of their life span. As such, a total of at least 25 percent of airport kiosks in each location at a U.S. airport should have been replaced with an accessible kiosk by then. To ensure this outcome, we have added requirements that both carriers and airport operators must ensure that at least 25 percent of automated kiosk provided in each location at the airport must be accessible by ten years after the effective date of the rule.
ACAA%20Kiosk%20and%20Web%20Site%20Final%20Rule%20October%2023%202013%20original%20signed%201_0.docx