Special assistance

Traveling to Australia?

You must carry medical documentation and declare all medication upon arrival or it may be confiscated.

Special assistance throughout your trip

We're dedicated to providing a positive travel experience for all customers. If you have questions or want to make special travel arrangements, call Reservations.

Contact Reservations

Learn more about:

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Flying on one of our partner airlines?

2 teams to help with all your needs

Special assistance coordinators

Questions and arrangements before your flight

Need special assistance? Already requested assistance? A coordinator will contact you before your flight to make sure necessary medical paperwork is complete and requests are arranged.

Contact special assistance

American's disability team

Issues or disability concerns after your flight

If you had a special-assistance issue on a previous trip, please call our disability team. We have dedicated compliant resolution officials who are there to help.

Contact American’s disability team

Special assistance coordinators can help with:

  • Wheelchair assistance
  • Mobility assistance, getting in and out of the plane
  • Traveling with a service animal*
  • Traveling with a portable oxygen concentrator (POCs)*
  • Battery-powered medical devices
  • Traveling within 7 days of your due date or after your delivery
  • Adjacent seating for yourself and your personal care attendant
  • Disassembly and packaging for mobility assistive devices

*We require at least 48 hours advance notice if you need to travel with an emotional support or psychiatric service animal, or a POC.

Health and welfare

Health and welfare

More information to help you travel safely

Hearing assistance

Let a gate agent or flight attendant know if you need help hearing important flight updates. Also, open captioning for safety videos is available.

Vision assistance

If you need help checking in or getting to your gate, please tell a ticket counter agent. You can also request a courtesy wheelchair, arm assistance or directions when you book or at the airport.

Cognitive and developmental assistance

We can help customers with cognitive and developmental disabilities get on and off the plane and get to a connecting flight. Customers who need personal or continuous care or who are unable to follow safety instructions must travel with a safety assistant.

Special seating

We’ll do our best to secure the most comfortable and usable seats based on your needs. Please choose seats when you book or call Reservations for help booking the best seat to suit your needs, especially if you:

  • Plan to travel with a safety assistant or someone to assist you during the flight
  • Can’t move over a fixed armrest
  • Are traveling with a service animal
  • Have a fixed or immobilized leg
  • Need extra space

Customers who need special assistance can ask to board early at the gate.

Customers that need extra space

For the safety and comfort of all customers, if a customer’s body extends more than 1 inch beyond the outermost edge of the armrest and a seat belt extension is needed, another seat is required. We encourage customers to address all seating needs when booking.

  • When you call to book, Reservations will make sure you get 2 adjacent seats at the same rate.
  • If you didn’t book an extra seat in advance, ask an airport agent to find out if 2 adjacent seats are available.
  • You may be offered a seat in a higher class of service that may provide more space; in this case, you’ll be responsible for the fare difference.
  • If accommodations can’t be made on your original flight, you can buy seats on a different flight at the same price as your original seats.

Voluntary emergency services

We permit qualified law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians to volunteer services during in-flight emergencies through our Voluntary Provisions of Emergency Service Program.

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