A national gain concentrated in three networks
Airlines reported fewer mishandled wheelchairs and scooters in 2025, but almost all the net improvement came from three carrier networks. A comparison of federal carrier tables finds that Southwest, American and Delta accounted for 1,369 of the industry’s 1,447 fewer mishandled devices — 94.6 percent of the decline. Other carriers collectively supplied only 78 fewer incidents. Southwest’s count fell by 606, American’s by 432 and Delta’s by 331; adding those changes and dividing by the total net decline produces the 94.6 percent share.
The concentration matters because a national average can describe an improvement that passengers on a particular carrier do not share. United reported 1,596 mishandled devices in 2025, up from 1,511 in 2024, while the number of devices it transported fell. Calculating incidents per transported device from the underlying counts, its rate rose 10.3 percent. The national rate fell 13.5 percent over the same period. These comparisons use DOT’s marketing-network rows, which include branded code-share service; adding those rows to the operating-carrier detail would double-count flights.
Newer data and a narrower enforcement pause
The August report, the newest listed on DOT’s 2026 index when checked October 7, shows a smaller national gain for January–June 2026 compared with January–June 2025. Reporting carrier networks transported 427,880 devices and mishandled 4,554, compared with 414,523 transported and 4,582 mishandled a year earlier. That is 28 fewer mishandled devices, despite 13,357 more devices being transported. The calculated rate improved 3.7 percent, to approximately 1.06 incidents per 100 devices. It remained an average, with substantial differences beneath it.
United’s first-half rate worsened 11.1 percent from the corresponding 2025 period: 789 mishandled out of 69,966 transported, compared with 713 out of 70,244. Frontier’s rate worsened 14.6 percent, with 368 incidents among 24,355 devices, compared with 230 among 17,437. Those rate comparisons account for the carriers’ different changes in traffic. A raw incident increase alone would not distinguish worse handling from simply transporting more devices.
At the same time, DOT has extended an enforcement pause affecting selected provisions of its wheelchair rule. An August 4 Federal Register notice moves the end of enforcement discretion for four provisions from December 31, 2026, to April 30, 2027. They concern liability for mishandled devices, refresher-training frequency, pre-departure notification and reimbursement of certain fare differences. The notice also extends discretion over a related annual hands-on refresher requirement for assistance involving onboard wheelchairs and lavatories.
That action is narrower than a suspension of the entire disability rule. The notice retains the June 17, 2026 initial-training deadline and says the department is delaying enforcement of specified requirements while it considers changes. DOT cites the burden of requiring compliance with provisions under review and the need to allow comments and a final decision. Its notice describes one large carrier’s argument that annual refresher training would disrupt an existing 18-month training cycle; it does not identify that carrier.
What the comparisons cannot establish
The records do not establish that the enforcement delay caused any carrier’s results. The first-half data end before the August extension, the original rule has multiple implementation dates, and the tables contain no controlled comparison of training or equipment practices. What they establish is an uneven improvement in an outcome the department already measures, alongside additional time before selected newer requirements will be enforced.
Nor do the counts represent distinct passengers or prove that every mishandled device was destroyed. They cover the reportable wheelchair-and-scooter handling category on covered domestic service. Airline mergers can also alter a carrier’s reporting perimeter: DOT notes that Hawaiian began reporting under Alaska’s single certificate in late October 2025. That change is why this analysis does not portray Alaska’s first-half increase as a like-for-like deterioration. This is an analysis of published carrier reports and the department’s notice; no new airline or agency comment was requested.