Frisco nonprofit leader joins federal committee on accessible air travel

A Frisco nonprofit leader has been brought into the federal debate over how Americans with disabilities board, sit, and survive air travel. Michele Erwin, founder and president of All Wheels Up, was appointed by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to the Air Carrier Access Act Advisory Committee, giving Collin County a direct link to a national policy effort that touches millions of travelers.

The appointment matters because the problems it addresses are still routine. The U.S. Department of Transportation says an estimated 5.5 million Americans use a wheelchair, and airlines reported 11,527 mishandled wheelchairs and scooters in 2023. The advisory committee was created under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and Section 439 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 to identify barriers to accessible air travel, assess whether federal programs are addressing them, recommend fixes, and advise the secretary on implementing the Air Carrier Access Act.

Erwin’s work in this field began long before the federal appointment. All Wheels Up says she started the organization in 2011 after traveling with her son, Greyson, who has SMA, and seeing how difficult it was to travel as a wheelchair user. The group says it became the first organization to fund and conduct crash testing of wheelchairs and wheelchair securement systems to meet FAA 16G dynamic testing standards, a technical benchmark that speaks directly to whether passengers can fly safely in their own equipment.

The committee’s first meeting, held March 10-11, 2020, in Washington, D.C., focused on the practical obstacles that still frustrate disabled travelers: ticketing, pre-flight seat assignments, bulkhead seating, stowage of assistive devices, and guide and wheelchair assistance at airports and on aircraft. Those are the friction points families in Collin County recognize immediately when a trip begins with uncertainty about boarding, seating, or whether a wheelchair will arrive intact.

Federal regulators have moved again in recent months. On Dec. 16, 2024, the Transportation Department issued a final rule meant to strengthen protections for air travelers with disabilities, require more rigorous airline standards and hands-on training for employees and contractors, and spell out what airlines must do when a wheelchair is damaged or delayed. The rule took effect Jan. 16, 2025. In October 2024, the department also announced a record $50 million penalty against American Airlines for disability-rights violations between 2019 and 2023, including unsafe physical assistance, injuries, and mishandled wheelchairs.

For Frisco and the rest of Collin County, Erwin’s appointment shows how a local nonprofit can help shape national transportation policy from outside Washington. It also shifts the focus from symbolism to service: safer boarding, better wheelchair handling, clearer communication, and fewer barriers between a disabled traveler and a flight that actually works.