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Atlas Air
Powered wheelchairs accepted · carried free · 48 h notice.
- Advance notice
- 48hours before departure
- Powered wheelchair
- Yes
- Lithium, battery installed
- Not published
- Cost to carry
- Free
Wet-lease / ACMI operator. Atlas Air usually flies aircraft and crew on behalf of other airlines. If your ticket says another airline, that airline’s wheelchair policy governs your booking — but the aircraft’s physical hold limits are this operator’s.
Who to contact
Transcribed from the airline’s own pages, exactly as it labels them.
- PhoneUSA — Atlas Air general inquiries (corporate switchboard; no dedicated accessibility line is published)
- EmailPassenger charter sales — the only passenger-side address published
- EmailGeneral inquiries
Atlas Air sells no seats to the public: passenger flights are charters bought by a Charter Operator, so assistance is requested through the charter operator, its agent or your travel department (CoC 4.4(a)), not through Atlas. Atlas states that trained Complaint Resolution Officials (CROs) are available at airports it serves during operating hours and a corporate CRO is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (CoC 4.4(j)), but publishes no CRO phone number, email or web form. A "Special Assistance Coordinator" is described in CoC 4.4(d): if you identify yourself as having a disability a designated individual will contact you — again with no published direct channel.
Read it from the source
Powered wheelchairs & batteries
The part that goes wrong. Battery chemistry and watt-hours decide whether your chair flies, and the rules differ depending on whether the battery can be removed.
"We accept motorized and non-motorized assistive devices for transport" (CoC 4.4(g)(i)); non-collapsible wheelchairs and scooters travel as checked baggage and Atlas will disassemble and reassemble them when necessary. No prior-approval condition is stated for the device itself.
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not addressed. Lithium-ion wheelchair batteries are neither accepted nor refused in writing; Atlas only offers hazardous-materials packaging for batteries that require it, on 48 hours' notice.
No watt-hour limit published; ICAO/IATA default applies — see global rules.
No watt-hour limit published; ICAO/IATA default applies — see global rules.
No watt-hour limit published for spare batteries; ICAO/IATA default applies — see global rules.
Not published. Atlas gives no spare-battery count for mobility aids. (The 150%-of-flight-duration battery rule in CoC 4.4(f)(ii) applies to ventilators, CPAP machines and portable oxygen concentrators, not to wheelchairs.)
Not published. Atlas does not say whether a wheelchair battery must be removed and carried in the cabin.
Not addressed. Atlas's Conditions of Carriage say nothing about gel, AGM, sealed lead-acid or dry-cell wheelchair batteries.
Atlas does not distinguish battery chemistries. Its only battery provision is that, on 48 hours' notice, it will provide "hazardous materials packaging for batteries or other assistive devices that are required to have such packaging" (CoC 4.4(b)(ii)).
No terminal-insulation or disconnection requirement is published. Atlas states only that it will supply hazardous-materials packaging for batteries that are required to have it, if asked 48 hours ahead (CoC 4.4(b)(ii)).
No battery spec sheet, MSDS or manufacturer label is required by the published Conditions of Carriage. (A physician's statement is required for a portable oxygen concentrator, not for a wheelchair.)
No maximum dimensions are published for powered wheelchairs or scooters.
No weight limit is published for powered wheelchairs; the CoC baggage weight caps expressly exclude assistive devices.
Not published. Atlas allows a wheelchair or scooter to be checked at the departure gate but does not say whether it is returned at the aircraft door.
Atlas accepts motorised mobility aids but publishes no battery rules at all — no chemistry restrictions, no watt-hour caps, no removal or terminal-protection requirement. The only battery-related commitment is that it will supply hazardous-materials packaging where the battery requires it, if asked at least 48 hours before departure.
Manual wheelchairs
"We accept motorized and non-motorized assistive devices for transport. When necessary, we will disassemble and reassemble wheelchairs or assistive devices for Passengers when they travel." Non-collapsible wheelchairs/scooters are accepted as checked baggage (CoC 4.4(g)(i)-(ii)).
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"We provide storage for one Passenger's collapsible, manual wheelchair in the cabin of each aircraft on a first-come, first served basis and with priority over carry-on Baggage belonging to other Passengers who board at the same city, provided the Passenger follows the pre-boarding procedure." In-cabin stowage cannot be pre-reserved; carry-on wheelchairs are accepted if they collapse to fit in an overhead bin or under a seat (CoC 4.4(g)(i)).
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No closet or stowage dimensions are published. Atlas says only that a carry-on wheelchair is accepted "provided [it] collapse[s] to fit in an overhead bin or under a seat", and that one collapsible manual chair is stored in the cabin per aircraft.
No maximum wheelchair dimensions are published. The 62-linear-inch cap in CoC 7.1(ii) is a free-baggage-allowance limit and assistive devices sit outside that allowance.
No weight limit is published for mobility aids. The 32 kg / 70 lb and 62-linear-inch caps in CoC 7.1(ii) govern the free BAGGAGE allowance, and CoC 4.4(g)(iii) puts assistive devices outside that allowance — do not read 32 kg as a wheelchair limit.
Atlas says non-collapsible wheelchairs and scooters "can be checked at the main ticket counter or the departure gate" (CoC 4.4(g)(ii)) — that is gate CHECK-IN. It does not say whether the chair is returned to you at the aircraft door on arrival.
One collapsible manual wheelchair per aircraft may be stowed in the cabin, first-come first-served with priority over other passengers' carry-on baggage, but only if you follow the pre-boarding procedure; cabin stowage cannot be pre-reserved.
Booking & cost
At least 48 hours' advance notice AND check-in one hour before the general public are required for the listed accommodations, which include "provision of hazardous materials packaging for batteries or other assistive devices that are required to have such packaging" (CoC 4.4(b)(ii)) and use of a self-powered ventilator/CPAP/POC. No separate notice deadline is published for a wheelchair alone.
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"If you are a Passenger with a disability and you require any special assistance, you should inform your Charter Operator or its agent or your travel department at the time of booking so we have adequate time to make appropriate arrangements" (CoC 4.4(a)). Atlas flies charters only and has no public booking or assistance-request channel.
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"Assistive devices approved for cabin transport do not count towards the combined number of Checked and carry-on Baggage items a Passenger is allowed free of charge, nor do they count towards the limit on carry-on items you may bring on board" (CoC 4.4(g)(iii)). No charge for carrying a mobility aid is published anywhere.
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No per-passenger device count is published. Atlas states only that it stores one collapsible manual wheelchair in the cabin of each aircraft, first-come first-served.
CoC 11.4.1: liability for destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage, checked or unchecked, is limited to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger under the Warsaw or Montreal Convention; for travel wholly within the United States the limit is US$3,500 per passenger. A higher limit is available if you make a special declaration of interest when the bag is handed over and pay any supplementary sum. Atlas publishes no wheelchair-specific full-value (ACAA) rule.
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
On board
"A special aisle chair is available to assist you if you are unable to walk" (CoC 4.4(i)). No aircraft exceptions are listed; the passenger fleet is Boeing 747-400 and 767-300.
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published. Atlas does say that "medical oxygen, stretcher, and incubator services are not available on our aircraft" (CoC 4.4(k)).
"If you have special needs, upon request, pre-boarding assistance will be provided to you, allowing you the opportunity to be seated prior to general boarding", with an aisle chair available; Atlas will also "disassemble and reassemble wheelchairs or assistive devices for Passengers when they travel" (CoC 4.4(g)(i), 4.4(i)).
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"our aircraft are equipped with specially designed seats that feature moveable aisle armrests to help make seating easier" (CoC 4.4(i)). Atlas also blocks a limited number of seats on each aircraft for passengers who identify a qualified disability, with adjacent seats provided in certain circumstances for a companion (CoC 4.4(e)).
Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Fleet detail. Passenger charters are flown on Boeing 747-400 (including 747-400 VIP) and Boeing 767-300 aircraft. Atlas publishes no hold-door or hold-compartment dimensions for these aircraft.
Worth knowing
NOT cargo-only. Atlas Air is best known as a freighter operator, but it runs a substantial passenger charter business — "Ever since launching our passenger charter service, Atlas Air has rapidly grown to become a leader in the field. We've flown more than one million passengers" — on a fleet of 747-400 VIP/747-400 and 767-300 passenger aircraft, plus US military charters. Recorded as operator_type "acmi_charter" with passenger_service true. IMPORTANT FOR A TRAVELLER: Atlas performs passenger flights "only pursuant to Charter Agreements entered into with a specific Charter Operator" (CoC 1.3), so you cannot buy a seat from Atlas and you must route every assistance request through whoever sold you the trip; the Charter Agreement can also override these Conditions of Carriage. Atlas is a US carrier subject to the Air Carrier Access Act and 14 CFR Part 382, and publishes the DOT "Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights" in its site footer. Not published anywhere: battery chemistry rules, watt-hour caps, spare-battery counts, wheelchair weight or size limits, gate return of the chair, accessible-lavatory availability, and any wheelchair-specific damage-liability rule (only the general 1,519 SDR / US$3,500 baggage limits). Atlas may require you to travel with an attendant if you have a mobility impairment so severe that you cannot physically assist in your own evacuation (CoC 4.4(c)(ii)); medical oxygen, stretcher and incubator services are not available (CoC 4.4(k)).
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these.
- s1 Atlas Air — General Conditions of Carriage, Passenger (December 2024), §4.4 Passengers with Disabilities (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s2 Atlas Air — Passenger Services overview (passenger charter fleet: 747-400 VIP, 747-400, 767-300) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s3 Atlas Air — Contact Us: Key Contacts (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s4 Atlas Air — Policies index (Cargo Tariff Rules, Passenger General Conditions of Carriage, Tarmac Delay Plan) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s5 Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights (US DOT), published by Atlas Air Worldwide (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
Record quality
Record status researched · confidence medium · 5 official sources · 3 contacts · 35% of the fields this reference tracks are answered. Newest source read 29 July 2026, the day before this page was built. What these mean.