CPAP Travel on US Airways/American Airlines - Problem

[bailachel]

Yesterday when I was flying out of Philadelphia Int. the gate agent for US Airways didn't want to let me on the plane with my CPAP as my third bag. They said they had changed their policies in the last week. That since CPAPs weren't used on the plane they had removed them from the list of exceptions. Has anyone else run into this? Is this happening on other airlines? I have been traveling for work with my cpap as my third bag for 5 years now without issue and in fact have used it on overnight flights.

I asked them to show me the policy but they couldn't find it on line. They finally called for a manager who reiterated that this is their new policy but he eventually let me on the plane with my bags.

Since I carrry a lot of equipment for work this could be a significant issue for me.

[englandsf]

I think it is an FAA requirement, Resmed have a letter and some info on their site not sure about Respironics. http://www.resmed.com/epn/assets/html/t ... nc=dealers

The crux of the issue is that CPAPs are medical equipment so should not be separated from their owner or counted towards baggage allowances. I have flown a lot with mine recently and only had one minor "scuffle" at JFK.

[bailachel]

Yes. That has always been my understanding. I had my paperwork and even a prescription with me. They said that didn't matter.

I am trying to find out from US Airways if this is really a policy change or if it was a mistake.

[49er]

Even though it is from last year, you might find this thread interesting since this seems to be a problem with US Airways. It doesn't look like anything has changed regarding Cpap travel.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-airwa ... usion.html

[BlackSpinner]

The flight crew can over ride you having cpap machine with you if there is no more room for it. Safety is the card they can pull at anytime.

Some airplanes are smaller and have no room for extra carry on.

However I don't think that in general they are allowed to overrule the FAA on a company wide basis.

[Julie]

Make sure they're not confusing your carrying the bag on with expecting to use it in flight... they may no longer want it used when up there, but if you assure them you won't, they may be ok with the carry-on thing.

[bailachel]

I appreciate all of your suggestions, but they were not the case. It truly was that they believed the rule had been changed and CPAPs had specifically been removed from the list during the last week. 2 gate agents and the manager they called to the gate made this very clear.

The good news is that today I called the US Airways number for medical questions. They researched the issue, and the rule has not changed. I was concerned that maybe they were correct and it had.

They took all my flight info, etc. so I suspect/hope that someone will be clearing up the misconception with the agents so no one else has this problem.

[Drowsy Dancer]

I appreciate all of your suggestions, but they were not the case. It truly was that they believed the rule had been changed and CPAPs had specifically been removed from the list during the last week. 2 gate agents and the manager they called to the gate made this very clear.

The good news is that today I called the US Airways number for medical questions. They researched the issue, and the rule has not changed. I was concerned that maybe they were correct and it had.

They took all my flight info, etc. so I suspect/hope that someone will be clearing up the misconception with the agents so no one else has this problem.

All US airlines must have a Complaint Resolution Officer available to respond to issues regarding the Air Carrier Access Act at all times when flights are being operated.

[Guest]

It seems the response from US Air that was posted yesterday by bailachel is now gone, I don't understand why it would have been removed?