Comments

1. I would have at least asked for a rebate for paying extra for the “comfort” seat.

2. I am not a dog owner but I have no problem with dogs staying in their owner’s footwell.

3. Hi Gary, Good write up, and very timely !! This “Service Animal” (or Emotional Support animal) is nearing the point that it got to about 6-8 months ago. Namely, it is spinning out of control again. I find it rare to be on a flight without at least one (and often several) of these service animals. They are no more “service animal” than an untrained pet. I’ve had them growl at me, try to weedle on my rollaboard bag (twice), almost get into a fight with another “service animal” (sadly, someone stopped it …), etc. When in the Hell are the airlines, the FAA, and Congress going to once and for all step in and stop this (requiring a certificate showing training from a recognized support animal training organization) and a physician’s letter of necessity. We are one “big incident” (like an out-of-control dog fight) onboard a plane (where someone gets hurt, and there is a bloody mess) away from someone stepping in.

   And while we’re at it, the “handicap” preboard is even more out of control. I’ve see passengers confidently walk through the airport and to the gate, and then ask for a wheelchair and early boarding. The absolute “show stopper” to me was AA flight 60 from Tokyo Narita to DFW (I was in Business Class, and was first in the Business Class line to board) when they had (not making this up) 59 wheelchairs (each with one to three other family members), then preboards for “passengers requiring a little extra time (there were over 60 of them). I was about number 175 to board, and there was no room in the overhead bins in Business Class to place my single rollaboard. When we landed, some of those “disabled” passengers beat me to Immigration (they could have likely won the Boston Marathon).

   Let’s stop all the nonsense. Let legitimate patients with trained service animals have them. Let truly disabled passengers board early. Otherwise, we will soon have chaos in boarding.

   EdSparks58

4. @Ed Well said

5. Gary the tweet is from the service dog owner. She was i. the middle 10E next to another dog in 10D.

   The no animal pax is in the window seat.

   Reading her social media it is a fully trained dog which is a plus vs fakes though we can argue the merit / need for one for the laundry list of conditions she cites.

6. Trapped = overly negative provocative clickbait.

   You can do better!

7. Ed – completely agree on both accounts. I imagine we can assume these “rules are for other people, not me” may get their due as the light turns Red from Yellow and they are accelerating. Too bad they have to impact others that are following the rules. Just, count to 3 before going on Green and good luck to us all on airplanes.

8. When traveling with our two infant twins, all of the airlines prohibit two lap-children in a single row of three seats, but I think that’s because there aren’t sufficient oxygen masks in case of loss of cabin pressure. Should do the same for service animals.

9. What happens if you are allergic to dogs?

10. The wheelchair issue could be fixed if airlines required those who pre boarded using one to remain on board at the destination, let all other passengers deplane, and then wait to exit the aircraft via wheelchair.

    Would probably result in a 75% reduction of wheelchair boarding abuse at Southwest.

11. Not fun to accidently step on a snarling beast whilst exiting the seat to go to the lav . Not fun for the FA’s cart to accidently wheel over the snarling beast’s tail . Not fun for the snarling beast to heed the call of nature on a passenger’s feet . Another example of airlines making us uncomfortable .

12. If you’re too mentally or emotionally unstable to fly without an emotional support animal, you’re too unstable to be on a commercial aircraft. Period. But we all know this is rarely the case, and these are just selfish people who managed to find one of the many doctors happy to exchange their signature for cash.

    We must stop playing pretend to cater to the fringe and lowest common denominators of society.

13. Right on, Ed! This garbage must stop!

14. Delta is a premium airline that offers premium services to premium customers.

15. Trapped? No, just take responsibility for yourself, get off the plane and book a later flight. It’s not ‘right’, but are you more interested in complaining than fixing the situation? Nobody seems to know what to do about the abuse of the ‘service dog rules’. There are people who legitimately need a service dog, nobody wants to deny them the freedom to travel on an airplane. The sleazeballs who are too cheap to pay to bring their dog along are the ones causing the problem and nobody seems to know how to stop them.

16. Technically there is a difference between a service dog (trained, certified) and an emotional support pet/animal. There are no guidelines, or training and the use of an emotional support animal/pet is based on the subjective report of the pet’s owner. I am a licensed clinical professional who will not write letters regarding the use of emotional support pets. Unfortunately, there are people online who will have an individual complete a questionnaire and based on the outcome write a letter regarding the use of an emotional support pet/animal. The questionnaires are often so obvious that you can tell how to answer to qualify for the letter. Sadly, I know people personally who have done this to avoid having the animal travel in the animal cargo section of the airplane. Perhaps people would fear that less if airlines stopped losing animals and made sure that that area in the cargo hold was appropriately set up so animals would not die during transit.
    Service animals who are trained do actual work which is why they should not be touched by other people or their children. Emotional support pets are not trained to do anything in particular and they can be touched by other people and their children, their owners actually welcome that. Perhaps airlines could suggest that those with service animals let them know in advance and when there are assigned seats in this age of computers they can tell who is assigned where in advance to avoid what happened in the situation described above. If that involves changing seats airlines can make a more lucrative offer and acknowledge that they could have been more attentive to avoid the problem above.
    Now because people are commenting on wheelchair use in this thread
    I am an individual who’s disability is not apparent and I use a wheelchair to navigate airports. I have seen people who use the wheelchair to get on the airplane yet who walked off the plane to collect their baggage or even more striking, have run to their next gate to make their connection. Other than when people have obvious or what appear to be obvious reasons for using a wheelchair I asked that people not judge. I doubt there is a way yet that airlines could better regulate this. I have a handicap parking placard, I wouldn’t mind flashing that however there are people with physical disabilities who don’t drive so they don’t have a state provided parking placard though they could because others drive them around. I suppose they could request medical documentation in the form of a note from your medical provider. Most health care providers/agency have electronic records so when traveling in advance it is possible to get such documentation, however if you’re traveling last minute you may be out of luck because the processing of such request can take 10 business days. To the person who suggested making wheelchair users wait to be the last two deplane well I take exception to that. You would be penalizing people with legitimate disabilities in order to punish the fakers. There is enough conflict and unrest on airplanes these days. In the past, flight attendants have asked that wheelchair users allow others to deplane first. That process never went over well when I used to fly Continental airlines. Now, at most they ask that passengers using wheelchairs remain seated until the wheelchairs are in the jet bridge. However, it come down to the fact that we sometimes all have to deal with uncomfortable situations.

17. I have an emotional support animal. Her name is Candy, she is a real animal in bed! Can you have two of her in the same row?

18. Also, Do they have to be completely under the seat in front of you?

19. Delta responded that the passenger should “speak to crew to see if they can reassign you to another location”

    Well done Delta. Toss it over the fence to the crew and do nothing to avoid future repeats. And people wonder why I despise the major American flagged carriers.

20. Given the behavior of the typical human passenger on airplanes, I would far prefer to fly with a planeload of dogs.

21. Sorry, Ed, but your “not made up” example sounds made up.

22. Legitimate service dogs are trained not to interact with other animals while on duty. Having two near each other is only an issue if one owner is gaming the system with a regular pet who hasn’t been trained to the level of an actual service dog.

23. Airlines can stop the nonsense of people claiming they need a support animal by selling an additional seat for the pet anyone wants to bring. True service animals would be exempt. I’d happily buy a seat for my dog. She is very well trained and will not interact with other people or other pets. However, I would never claim she was a support animal because that is unethical.

24. The way passengers are behaving on airlines these days, I’d rather sit with a whole row of dogs. I’m sure these two were better behaved and most people.

25. I know many non-English speaking people requested wheelchair so they can have someone bring them to the connection gate as they don’t know how to navigate the airport and read the monitor. Airlines should request doctor proof when granting wheelchair request. Too many take advantage of the system.

26. There are many simply terrified of dogs – no matter well behaved the dogs are to their owners. Some people have trauma from past incidents etc.

    Airlines need to make a safe and sounds storage area for pets on a plane. And, if you think the cargo bin is good enough then please have the airline prove it.

27. Emotional support animals are not trained in the same way that service animals are. That being said, ESAs ARE allowed on domestic flights and have legal protection. This statement:

    “Here are some pretty good standards by which we can tell if you’re not seeing real emotional support animals. Service animals aren’t ‘pets for someone with emotional challenges’ they are trained working animals.
    They’re being fed treats, and not just meals. Their owner speaks to them in baby talk. The animals rest on pillows.”

    It’s totally bogus. Did chat gpt write this? This is just totally incorrect.

28. This lady is ridiculous. Her Twitter is all complaints to companies for not accommodating her and do a little Google search on her handle and check out what a “spoonie” is. If the dogs are truly service animals there’s no real risk of a “missed medical episode” or whatever she called it.

29. I used a service dog from about 2005 to 2012. I legitimately qualify for a service dog (not a b.s. emotional dog). Believe it or not, but I very effectively trained the lab myself. But the dog never received even one complaint in all those years.

    I’m thinking of using a new dog but I’m a little sensitive to all the complaining. To be honest, I probably don’t care one bit about complaining because in our society, I usually have to play the role of the dirty rich white guy who pays all the taxes for people who hate him. This service dog is my only chance for the slightest bit of balance, so I’ll probably train another Labrador.. BTW, people loved my last dog. I got a great many unsolicited compliments about that dog.

30. I find it interesting that we keep putting the responsibility of fixing this situation on the airlines.
    It seems pretty clear there are people gaming the system with emotional support animals and wheelchairs.
    Shouldn’t we focus on those people?
    It’s like blaming police in a chase where the criminal causes an injury.
    We don’t seem to blame the criminal, but put the responsibility on the police.
    Maybe, if we as a society start creating a culture where we put responsibility where it should be, we would be better off.
    It should even include ourselves, such as not blaming soda for our poor health and instead taking responsibility for making a poor dietary choice.

31. @Concerned reader: Emotional support dogs DO NOT have legal status. They ae not trained and do not perform a task that the owner cannot do.

32. With the amount of “wheelchair passengers” flying these days, it makes me wish Richard Widmark was alive to be a passenger.

33. keep a dog whistle on your key chain Blow it at your seat and in the bathroom. Use it in stores and food places . A service animal will not respond a “pet” will.

    I have seen a large dog take a leak at Lowes and the owner do nothing about it.

34. I prefer NOT to fly with animals in a closed in space. I think the airlines make enough damn money that they can have flights just for passengers who want to travel with pets….I’m sure if dog lovers had to be cramped up in the cabin of the plane with a plane load of other dog owners, many would cease carrying the dogs. Ed Bastian, you need to set some measurable guidelines on pets on the plane.

35. A lousy situation but you’re getting a lot wrong here.

    Service animals are highly trained and provide a specific service. An example would be a seeing eye dog.

    Emotional Support Animals are just that and nothing else. They are not highly trained and provide comfort to someone who is certified as needing this comfort for mental health reasons.

    While some might be legit, most are fake and it’s super easy now to do a telehealth session with a medical professional, pay the fee and get your letter.

    So two different things and important not to mix up service dogs, which are not seen very often in public and ESAs which seem to be everywhere paying a few is involved.

    But here’s one thing. If an ESA causes harm or damage, the owner is still fully responsible so maybe it’s lucky if one bites you.

    It would also help if the airlines would change their idiotic policies around flying with paid pets because right now, it’s a crapshoot as to whether you will have a problem.

    We’ve flown hundreds of times with our 9lb 15 year old dog in a carrier and a few weeks ago were almost denied boarding by a snarky check in agent who decided he couldn’t fly because “your dog is taller than my dog and my dog can’t fly”

    And this was on a return trip where the dog had already flown four times on various legs. So there is an incentive to play the ESA game.

36. Has happened to me twice on DL. I am Platinum. First time was clearly not a trained service dog. Wanted to climb on my lap. 2nd time at least had a service vest on. Both big dogs. We love dogs but very uncomfortable.

37. @concerned reader, airlines no longer have to allow ESAs as of changes to the AACA (air carrier access act) in 2020. No major carrier allows them now. But, service dog users just have to complete a one page DOT form self-attesting the dog is trained to mitigate a disability and well-behaved.
    The only rights ESAs have now is for housing – they have no public access rights (except in a very few locations where state or local laws grant them extra protections).
    You are right though in that this seems a poorly written AI article.

38. Service dogs can only be in a window seat. Never an aisle seat. The airline screwed up.

    The self certification is more than just a pinkie promise. It is a long document, with a legal affidavit. Documentation of training is required.

    Rewarding a dog with treat does not necessarily mean it’s not a service animal. The dog could have been flying for a while, or the handler may just feel like rewarding the dog for a job well done. Even drug sniffing dogs get rewards while working.

    Fake service dogs hurt everyone, especially disabled people. It’s a horrible, anti social thing to do. The airline that put two dogs in one row broke rules that govern them.

39. This is my biggest fear of flying, these fellow passengers bring their home zoo.
    1. I’d rather sit between two terrorists slipped through the TSA no-fly list than sit like in this story (and I often fly in DL “Comfort Class.”
    2. SFO flights always seem to have these animals. I’ve seen it everywhere, but SFO flights almost alawys have them. Families prancing aboard with their golden retrievers, and so on.
    3. Transatlantic flights are no respite. I had to deal with a young blonde Ukranian women sitting next to me with a pet carrier containing a large cat. Don’t tell me these people are not brave and self-entitled. After sweet-talking to this former backpacker traveler about her arduous 3-day bus trip to the airport and asking me if I would trade my aisle seat with her husband (who somehow excaped conscription) a back row middle seat I decided to stop talking to her and gave her the cold shoulder (as much as I could in economy class) for the remaining seven hours.
    4. Why these people with their domestic zoos can’t be on a TSA no-fly list is beyond human comprehension.

40. I have a nervous system disorder and travel with my trained service dog. I developed a nervous system disorder after suffering from a Traumatic Brain Injury while serving on active duty; I am rated 100% disabled by the VA and also as a high risk patient. My service dog functions to alert me when I am going to go into autonomic crisis/lose consciousness and to break my fall; I have lost consciousness on overseas flights. My service dog rests on an assistive medical device – a cushion – while we fly because it protects both of us if I lose consciousness. I have spent at least 3.5 hours of a Delta flight resting on the floor cushion to avoid going into autonomic crisis. I also use a folding garden bench as an assistive medical device because I need to keep my legs elevated and as close to the level of my heart as possible. I find it offensive that you’re suggesting the use of floor cushions or dog beds equates to a “fake” service dog.

41. Instead of telling the woman to find a seat for herself, wouldn’t it be easier to reseat one of the two dog owners?

    But I guess Einstein doesn’t work at Delta anymore.

42. Gary,
    Your article contains several in accuracy and ultimately is irresponsible journalism. Your comments about service animals and how they can be identified is in accurate and untrue. You’re all attitude is clear that you don’t like animals on the plane and has nothing to do with ones need for a service animal or whether it’s a real service animal or a fake. Why don’t you just clear that you don’t like them on the plane and your article will be biased

43. I’d much rather be “trapped” between two dogs (service or pet) than have to endure a screaming infant for an entire flight. And a plane full of dogs sounds like heaven! — Regards, Staunch Dog Lover

44. The government created this monster. Only the government can stop it.

    As to the question of what if you are allergic? YOU are the one kicked off the flight! Somehow that complies with the ADA.

45. Here’s the problem with using “preferred pronounces”…
    Your article is directed to the general public.
    You use they/them when you are referring to one person.
    So the reader is left being confused….wondering… was this story about person or several.

46. I can commiserate, my emotional support Anaconda has been denied boarding numerous times.

47. Non service animals of any kind do not belong on an airplane. There are too may reasons why they don’t belong to list. The main one is, they are not trained although there are many, many other reasons. If you think that it’s OK to be trapped in an aluminum tube at 35,000 ft for many hours with an untrained animal,well let’s just say you’re inconsiderate to be polite.

48. Gary, it looks like you’re not a huge fan of dogs! Did you have a bad experience with a dog or another pet in the past?

49. Have seen entire extended family attempt to accompany person in wheelchair thru security. The entire brood was surprised when told only one person could accompany. The rest were directed to the end of the TSA line at MSY.
    Have also seen grandma, with a walking stick tucked under one arm, RUN to the far end of the A concourse at FLL. Yet, she was among the first in line for a Southwest flight requesting early boarding.
    Only in Amerika!!