Frontier Airlines CEO urges crackdown of 'rampant abuse' of airport wheelchair service

Frontier Airlines plane seen at Cancun International Airport. On Wednesday, December 08, 2021, in Cancun International Airport, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The 1986 Air Carrier Access Act requires airlines to provide a wheelchair to passengers with disabilities at the airport. The problem: Many travelers are faking it, Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle says.

"There is massive, rampant abuse of special services. There are people using wheelchair assistance who don't need it at all," Biffle said at a Wings Club luncheon on Thursday in New York.

He said he had seen Frontier flights where 20 people were brought to the plane with wheelchairs, but only three wheelchairs were used upon arrival.

"We are healing so many people," he joked.

Biffle wasn't talking about travelers' personal wheelchairs but rather the service airlines provide when travelers arrive at the airport.

It costs the airline between $30 and $35 each time a customer requests a wheelchair, Biffle said, and abuse of the service leads to delays for travelers with genuine need for assistance.

"Everyone should be entitled to it who needs it, but you park in a handicapped space they will tow your car and fine you," he told CNBC. "There should be the same penalty for abusing these services."

Earlier this year, the Transportation Department proposed stricter rules aimed at preventing wheelchair damage by airport ground handlers and ensuring "prompt assistance" to travelers with disabilities when getting on and off the plane.