An airline that damages a wheelchair or another assistive device is liable under Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention, and Article 31(2) gives you seven days from receiving it to complain in writing. On a flight inside the United States the ordinary baggage cap does not apply at all: 14 CFR 382.131 bases compensation on the original purchase price.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Airline name] — Baggage Claims
[Airline claims address or online claim form]
Re: Damage to mobility equipment, Montreal Convention 1999, Article 17
Flight [Flight number]
Route [Departure airport] to [Final destination airport]
Date of flight [Flight date]
Booking reference [Booking reference]
PIR reference [PIR reference]
Bag tag number [Bag tag number]
Dear Sir or Madam,
I travelled on flight [Flight number] on [Flight date] and checked in my
[Item description], which I depend on for mobility. It was returned to
me at [Final destination airport] on [Date you landed] in a damaged
condition. I reported this before leaving the baggage hall and was given
Property Irregularity Report reference [PIR reference].
The damage is as follows: [Description of the damage].
Under Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention 1999 you are liable for
damage to checked baggage where the event that caused it took place on
board the aircraft or while the baggage was in your charge. This letter
is the written complaint required by Article 31(2), sent within seven
days of the device being placed at my disposal.
I am a person with reduced mobility. Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No
1107/2006 requires that a passenger whose mobility equipment is lost or
damaged while being handled at the airport or carried on board is
compensated in accordance with rules of international, Community and
national law.
Where the flight is one to which title 14 of the Code of Federal
Regulations applies, section 382.131 provides that the baggage liability
limits in part 254 do not apply to a wheelchair or other assistive
device and that compensation is calculated on the original purchase
price of the device.
I claim:
Repair or replacement of the device [Currency] [Repair or replacement cost]
Hire of a substitute device [Currency] [Substitute hire cost]
Total [Currency] [Total]
The device is [repairable / beyond economic repair]. I enclose the
purchase invoice, photographs of the damage and the repair quotation.
Please confirm within 7 days how you will restore my mobility while the
claim is settled, and pay [Currency] [Total] within 14 days to:
[Payment details].
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
How to use it
- Report it at the baggage desk before you leave the hall and insist on a written report reference.
- Photograph the device from several angles, with the tag still attached.
- Send the letter within seven days of getting the device back, even if the repair quote is not ready.
- Attach the original purchase invoice. Both the US rule and any negotiation turn on what the device cost.
- Ask for a loan chair in the same letter, and say what a substitute is costing you each day.
Seven days, not twenty-one. Article 31(2) of the Montreal Convention gives seven days from receipt for damage and twenty-one for delay, and Article 31(4) says that if no complaint is made in time no action lies against the carrier except in the case of fraud. A wheelchair handed back broken is damage. Write inside the week, then argue the amount afterwards — see the damaged baggage letter for the general version.
Is the Montreal limit the most I can get?
On international carriage the Article 22(2) limit is 1,519 SDR per passenger from 28 December 2024, unless you made a special declaration of interest at check-in and paid the supplementary sum the carrier asked for. A power chair usually costs far more than the limit, which is why the special declaration matters for anyone travelling with expensive equipment.
Does the EU regulation pay more than Montreal?
No, and it does not pretend to. Article 12 of Regulation 1107/2006 creates a right to be compensated but sets the measure by reference to the rules of international, Community and national law, so on an international flight it points straight back to the Montreal limit. Its practical value is different: it makes the airline responsible for handling the equipment, and it gives the national enforcement body a reason to take your complaint.
Does the US rule apply to my flight?
It applies where the ordinary domestic baggage limits in 14 CFR part 254 would apply — a flight within the United States. There, section 382.131 disapplies that cap for wheelchairs and assistive devices and sets the original purchase price as the basis for calculating compensation. On an international itinerary the Montreal Convention governs instead, so say which one you are on and claim accordingly.
What if I only found the damage at home?
Write immediately and say when you found it. The seven-day clock in Article 31(2) runs from the day the device was placed at your disposal, not from the day you noticed, so a late letter is weaker — but it is far better than none, and an airline that has already seen a report reference at the airport rarely argues the point. If it does, and refuses, take the file to the national enforcement body, which supervises the mobility regulation as well as EU261. Background on the limits and the two-year deadline for court action is in the Montreal Convention baggage guide, and a device that never arrived at all is a lost baggage claim.