The "On-the-Spot" special appointment authority is a non-competitive hiring method for filling vacancies for people with disabilities. Full benefits are awarded to the non-competitive appointee. 

• Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(u), for hiring people with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities. This excepted authority is used to appoint persons with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities. Such individuals may qualify for conversion to permanent status after two years of satisfactory service. Severe physical disabilities include but are not limited to blindness, deafness, paralysis, missing limbs, epilepsy, dwarfism, and more.
• Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(ll) for hiring readers, interpreters, and personal assistants. This excepted authority is used to appoint readers, interpreters, and personal assistants for employees with severe disabilities as reasonable accommodations.

An applicant seeking a position through the non-competitive process should be prepared to provide his or her resume, references, and academic transcripts. They are also required to provide documentation pertaining to the existence of a disability. This documentation must be provided to the hiring agency before an individual can be hired.

The disability certification and job readiness certification must be on the author's professional letterhead stationery, and can come from:

• A licensed physician or other medical practitioner
• A licensed vocational rehabilitation (VR) specialist (public or private)
• Any federal agency, state agency, or agency of the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory that issues or provides disability benefits, such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

The official disability and job readiness certification letter must state the following:

• The applicant is disabled as defined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. In addition, the condition is professionally recognized and is relatively permanent and not fully corrected by medical treatment, replacement, or surgical means.
• This disability and limitation qualify this applicant to be hired non-competitively under the FAA On-the-Spot hiring authority for persons with disabilities (also known as Schedule A within the competitive services).
• The applicant has the ability to perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodations, if appropriate.
• The applicant is physically qualified to do the work without hazard to self or to others.

Federal agencies are required by law to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees with disabilities. The Federal Government may provide you with a reasonable accommodation based on appropriate requests (unless doing so will result in undue hardship to the Federal Agency). 

Reasonable accommodations can apply to the duties of the job and/or where and how job tasks are performed. The accommodation should make it easier for the employee to successfully perform the essential duties of the position. 

• Examples of reasonable accommodations include providing interpreters, readers, or other personal assistance; modifying job duties; restructuring work sites; providing flexible work schedules or work sites (i.e., telework) and providing accessible technology or other workplace adaptive equipment. 

Our reasonable accommodation policy is available at DOT Order 1011.1. 

All requests for a reasonable accommodation throughout the application and/or interview process should be directed to the Human Resources Specialist listed on the vacancy announcement for the job you are applying.

An applicant may request a reasonable accommodation orally or in writing. However, oral requests can be followed up by a written confirmation of the request. An applicant with a disability may also request reasonable accommodation through a family member, health professional, or other designated representative.

The FAA may ask the applicant to provide information/documentation about the functional limitation and the request for a reasonable accommodation. The law requires that medical information/documentation related to the reasonable accommodation process remain confidential. Therefore, medical documentation is filed separate and apart from an applicant's personnel file. 

Failure to submit properly requested information/documentation may result in denial of the request for a reasonable accommodation.