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A dog waits in line with passengers boarding a flight at LAX
Just a few days after United Airlines made headlines by telling a passenger that she couldn’t bring her emotional support peacock on a flight out of Newark, the company has issued strict new rules for all emotional support animals – just like Delta Air Lines did recently.
United’s new rules draw a clear distinction between emotional support animals and service animals. The latter – like seeing-eye dogs for blind passengers – are not subject to the new regulations, and do not require any documentation or advance notice from passengers, United said, since those animals are “individually trained for public access.”
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But starting March 1, passengers who plan to travel with emotional support animals in the cabin will have to give United 48 hours advance notice, provide confirmation “that the animal has been trained to behave properly in a public setting and acknowledge responsibility for the animal’s behavior,” and show a health form signed by a vet confirming that the animal’s vaccinations are up to date.
“The veterinarian must also affirm that there is no reason to believe that the animal will pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others on the aircraft or cause a significant disruption in service,” United said. United’s new rules are virtually the same as Delta’s.
This means that passengers can still bring emotional support animals along for the ride, but they’ll have to jump through additional hoops in order to get a nod Delta or United. (American has yet to make any announcement about its policy)
United said that during the past year, it has seen a 75 percent increase in passengers traveling with emotional support animals, and suggested the situation is getting out of hand. “The Department of Transportation’s rules regarding emotional support animals are not working as they were intended to,” United said.
It added that some animals are barred altogether from traveling in the passenger cabin, including “hedgehogs, ferrets, insects, rodents, snakes, spiders, reptiles, sugar gliders, non-household birds, exotic animals and animals not properly cleaned or carrying a foul odor.”
Critics have suggested that some travelers claim their pets are emotional support animals just so they can secure a bulkhead or extra-legroom seat, or to avoid having to pay to transport the animal in the baggage hold.
I wonder… Was the peacock incident just a PR ploy for United Airlines to roll out a tougher policy on “emotional support” animals? Thoughts please!
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Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.
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