Wheelchair assistance at Miami airport: how to arrange it
Wheelchair service at MIA comes from your airline, not the airport. How to book it, what the attendant will and won't do, and the Rental Car Center and Customs exceptions.
Ask your airline, not the airport. Each airline at MIA arranges its own wheelchair service. Reserve it ahead by calling the airline or through its website. It’s also available on demand, but MIA says there are typically delays at peak times. For the trips to and from the Rental Car Center, MIA names other contacts.
Who arranges each part of the journey
| Journey | Who to ask | When |
|---|---|---|
| To and from your gate | Your airline | In advance, or on demand |
| Terminal to the Rental Car Center | MIA’s ADA coordinator, 305-869-1859 or [email protected] | In advance. MIA says prior arrangements are required. |
| Rental Car Center back to the terminal | Your rental car company | In advance, or at its counter when you return the car |
| Help in the Customs line | MIA’s Customs accessibility lane form | At least 48 hours before you land |
What the wheelchair attendant does
MIA’s accessibility FAQ sets out what to expect:
- One carry-on. The attendant pushes you and carries one piece of carry-on luggage. For more bags, ask for the airline’s porters, called Skycaps.
- A long wait at the gate. The companies the airlines hire to push wheelchairs typically set up waiting areas, and their staff can help you get to a restroom. If you need a calmer place to wait, MIA lists multi-sensory rooms after security in D and the H–J connector.
- Food. You can ask for a short stop to buy food to go while you’re being taken to or from the gate.
- Carts. MIA has some carts in various areas. You can’t book one ahead, and they can’t carry a manual wheelchair.
Traveling with your own power chair
Drive your power chair to the ticket counter yourself. The airline checks it at the gate, where you transfer to an aisle chair for boarding, and its staff load the chair into the hold. If your chair arrives broken, contact your airline for help with a claim.
MIA has 10 charging stations for electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters. They’re in Concourses D, E, F, G, H and J, and before security at the D and H international arrivals.
Arriving from abroad
MIA highly encourages travelers with disabilities or limited mobility to request a wheelchair from their airline. If you don’t want one but need help in the Customs line, send the accessibility lane form from the table above. At Customs, find a Miami-Dade Aviation Department employee and give your name, and they’ll direct you to the lane. The form doesn’t guarantee faster service or a place ahead in the line.
Getting to and from MIA
- Accessible taxis and SuperShuttle vans: ask at the ground-level curb outside baggage claim for an accessible taxi or van, and allow extra time while an equipped vehicle comes from the holding lot.
- STS paratransit picks up at MIA’s Accessible Transit Pickup doors.
- Parking. Accessible spaces, including van-accessible spaces, are on the ground levels and the third levels of the Dolphin, Flamingo and Ibis garages. The third levels connect to the terminal by bridge. If you need help getting a ticket to enter a garage, or help when leaving, call the parking operator on 305-876-7536, 24 hours a day.
If the service doesn’t turn up
If your airline hasn’t given you the help you asked for, MIA’s advice is to contact the airline and ask to speak to a Complaint Resolution Officer, or CRO. Complaints about an airline’s wheelchair service go to the airline. If you believe you were denied access to an airport program or service because of a disability, MIA has an ADA complaint form, and its ADA coordinator, on 305-869-1859, can help you file. For a medical emergency at the airport, call 9-1-1.