There will be little effect on passengers. Each carrier will continue to operate separate systems for reservations, seat assignments and flight status until the company combines those services sometime in the first quarter of 2012.

The most visible effect of the approval is that air traffic control communications will now refer to all of the carrier’s flights as “United.”

“I’m flabbergasted by it,” said Lex Frieden, professor of biomedical informatics and rehabilitation at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, “Things happen despite rules that say they shouldn’t.”

A passenger can request the judgment of a Complaint Resolution Official (CRO), which should resolve the situation at the gate. Airlines can require a disabled passenger to fly with an attendant, but it’s the airline’s responsibility to find an attendant at its expense. However, the passenger may be denied boarding if he or she does not agree to be accompanied.

Fortunately, such experiences are rare. Progress has included more wheelchair-accessible taxis and rental vans and greater availability of rental cars with hand controls. There are more travel websites for people with dexterity or vision problems. Laws protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and training for airport and carrier personnel has improved.

The Open Doors Organization, which has conducted training for more than twenty-five commercial airlines on improving access for air travelers with disabilities, estimates that the travel market for people with disabilities approaches $15 billion annually. The number of people with disabilities will inevitably increase as we live longer; about 25% of the American population is expected to have some disability by 2030.

The Air Carrier Access Act extends coverage to foreign airlines for flights originating or landing in the United States, or ticketed through American carriers. Airlines are required to provide accommodations for people who fly with service animals, travel with oxygen or respiratory assistance, or have hearing or vision impairments. Airlines must provide assistance to passengers unable to use automated kiosks to check in or to print boarding passes.

Traveling overseas, however, can pose greater difficulties. People with disabilities may have fewer legal protections in some countries. Service dogs can be a particular issue, since some countries don’t allow them to disembark and hotels may not be required to accept service dogs.

Even in the U.S. problems remain. Progress to retrofit older mass transit systems has slowed because of chronic under-funding. Under provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in 1990, Amtrak stations were to be fully accessible by 2011. Only 20% of its 482 stations have achieved compliance.

The most important steps travelers with disabilities can take are the same as for the non-disabled — plan ahead, allow enough time, study your options, and have all necessary documents. Many disability-related organizations can provide access to peer counselors and online groups to research travel options.

Howard J. McCoy, founder of Accessible Journeys, a tour operator focusing on wheelchair-accessible vacations, says “Thousands of people with disabilities travel everyday, and we never hear about their successes.”

Flight cancellations held steady for the month at just 1.0 percent over the year before, a marked improvement over May, June and July at 1.2%, 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively. All three monthly percentages were for 2010 than the previous year.

DOT considers the proportion of cancellations to delays acceptable: “Although the rule has been in effect only a short time, we’ve seen no tangible increase in flight cancellations,” said spokeswoman Olivia Alair, “which means airlines are taking action to prevent delays without canceling flights.”

Some air industry reporters had predicted that the anti-delay regulation would produce an additional 5,200 cancellations per year (both directly and indirectly). The relationship between cancellations and delays is still difficult to determine.

In July 2010, 557 planes sat on the ground for two to three hours after boarding, as compared to 795 in July 2009. 121 of those flights returned to the gate but subsequently completed their flights, while only 75 were ultimately canceled. Both numbers represent an increase over July 2009, indicating that tarmac-delay-related cancellations increased even though airlines did better at getting passengers to their destinations.

The impact of the tarmac-delay rule remains unclear, even as delays of over three hours have all but disappeared. However, the number has been dropping since late 2009, before the new regulation went into effect. Keep in mind, too, that 2010 saw few delays due to summer storms.

Some industry analysts counter that long delays began their disappearing act when airlines were told they would incur great financial cost for such behavior. They adjusted their schedules to avoid the penalties and don’t seem to have suffered any harm thereby.

Dave Pelter, a former airline executive who now operates InsideTrip.com, a flight-rating website, says: “The rule puts the onus on the airlines to perform the best they possibly can. The threat of fines has every airline looking at their policies and procedures to make sure there are no unforced errors on their side.”

“It’s going to be a year before anybody really knows what the level of cancellations attributable to the three-hour rule is,” said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, “but it’s fair to say that the sky hasn’t fallen.”

Here’s http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/2009/10/13/Travel_Si_Liberman_Flu.html

an article by Si Liberman in the Palm Beach Daily News about travel industry efforts to limit passenger exposure to the H1N1 influenze strain (Swine Flu).