A Southwest Airlines passenger Tuesday evening complained to crew upon boarding her Baltimore – Los Angeles flight about an emotional support animal another passenger had on the aircraft. She claimed a severe allergy.
Now the airline has a problem, right? Two passengers claiming medical needs, and they have to adjudicate between them. They’re between Scylla and Charybdis, as it were, because the Air Carrier Access Act requires them to accommodate passengers with medical needs and there aren’t clear guidelines or safe harbors for handling emotional support animals.
Sure we know most claims are bogus, and the science is suspect even where the passenger claims aren’t. And I say this as someone that has traveled with my dog (under the seat, paying for pet in cabin, though now at 15 he’s too old to travel that way). But the airline faces liability and indeed faces liability either way.
They decided to kick the complaining woman off the flight. Here’s why:
An official from Southwest said that a customer without a medical certificate may be denied boarding if they report a life-threatening allergic reaction and cannot travel safely with an animal on board. They say after explaining the situation, the passenger refused to leave the plane, and law enforcement was forced to step in and removed her.
There’s not a lot you can do if you have an allergy and you’re seated near an animal onboard. I offer 9 tips for planning to deal with pet allergies onboard. Number one is simply being moved to a seat at the other end of the aircraft.
A couple years ago I boarding a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong where a business class passenger went into the lavatory and tried out items from the amenity kit. She reported that what I assume was the Jurlique face cream was causing her skin to break out. She was removed from the flight. The last thing the airline wanted was a medical diversion. That makes sense to me.
But then the whole situation went wrong. The Southwest airlines passenger refused to leave the aircraft. Southwest escalated a customer service problem into a law enforcement problem. Law enforcement proceeded to grab the woman, yank her and push her off the flight!
During the incident a Southwest Airlines flight attendant makes an announcement telling passengers not to film the incident. Shameful.
“Sure we know most claims are bogus, and the science is suspect even where the passenger claims aren’t.”
2 claims in a field where you are not an expert … and neither one is sourced.
Well no one is NOT going to video it.
That being said, why resit being taken off. I don’t mean telling them you aren’t going to go but when the cops come in, who do you think is going to win? You or the cops? Resign yourself to your fate and go off with your head held high or down. But either way, there is no sense in resisting.
Gary,
You consider this shameful so I’m curious how you would handle it. You have a pax that has to be removed because she may have a severe allergic reaction in flight.
That customer flat out refuses to leave the aircraft despite all requests to do so. Now what do you do?
Second question. Law enforcement shows up because this pax is refusing requests to leave the aircraft in violation of federal law. She continues to refuse repeated requests to leave despite it being made clear she is going to be arrested she doesn’t. Now what would you do?
@Justin – I’ve written about and sourced this in the past. Here’s a good discussion of what we know:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/07/02/therapy-animals-are-everywhere-proof-that-they-help-is-not/?utm_term=.50b4c8e98dad
Once again, the events of Sept. 11th gave airlines carte blanche to do with passengers what they choose. You are no longer in the U.S. even when you fly on a U.S. domestic flight. All very sad!
As always, this pet BS takes priority of passengers paying for the seat.
@Patrick Why resist being taken off? Maybe ask Dr. David Dao who apparently received a nice settlement check from United, although admittedly no one other than the involved parties knows for sure what the final number was.
@Gary You handle it like jetBlue did post United-Dao controversy–deplane everyone and then deny boarding to the non-compliant pax.
http://viewfromthewing.com/2017/07/19/jetblue-uses-post-david-dao-trick-kick-family-off-flight/
And for those who say this inconveniences all the pax, I would say that it probably took as long or longer to wait for LE to show up, try to deal with the pax peacefully, then drag her off the plane, etc.
Sorry meant @123pilot in the previous response.
@Justin you don’t have to be an expert in a subject to understand when people are blatantly abusing a rule. We all know this is going on with ESAs. I love Southwest and they have a great culture, so I’m surprised that the FAs wouldn’t try to reseat the passenger or asked someone to volunteer to be reseated. Let’s wait for more info to come out.
Was she reaccommodated or offered to be reaccomodated on another flight? I couldn’t tell from the video.
What I don’t like is when the owner will not control the animal. Or they fall asleep and the animal jumps down and starts digging or clawing the seat. Leaving the flight crew to stop them from harming the wiring that is under the seats.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/07/02/therapy-animals-are-everywhere-proof-that-they-help-is-not/?utm_term=.3275bf761036
what a dumb woman. This country is going down the toilet. why anyone would resist in this situation is beyond me. Get off the plane like you were asked. You indicated you had a life threatening allergy so you dont get to go on this flight.
I have flown with “service animals” next to me. I know they were because they had a vest (which owner purchased on ebay for $60) that said so. However they mis-behaved and jumping on seats. I am not allowed to have my bag protrude from under seat in front of me, even when sitting at window or empty row because it will block exit in event of emergency. How about tripping on that german shepherd in the way while it is trying to bite you out of fear. I love animals. I do not love animals on planes. There is no requirement to prove medical necessity for service animal. You can buy a doctors note online for about $100 if you feel the need. Most airlines have just removed 1 inch between the seats. Imagine if 25% of customers brought their dogs. That would be about 150 dogs on an Airbus 380 depending on configuration. Really? is that fair to the other customers?
Solution – Humans get priority over dogs. When ticketing, airlines add 2 check boxes to the ticket buying procedure. 1st box is “I will be traveling with a pet”. 2nd box is “I refuse to sit next to an animal”. Use the same super computer that the airlines use to jack up ticket prices to meet demand and use it to separate the two types of passenger. When all of the seats that meet the criteria are full, no more seats will be sold to pet passengers. Or have pet friendly and non pet friendly sections of the aircraft. Problem with the second option is if people see that, they will feel encouraged to bring their animal.
I have to say, as much as the whole emotional support animal thing drives me crazy, in this case I can’t blame Southwest or law enforcement for how they handled given the policies in place.
It’s shocking that Southwest would behave this way
It’s probably the worst thing I’ve ever read about them
Someone that is allergic to pets dragged off a flight because they mention an allergy
It’s terrible to hear of this once deeply respected airline
I have an emotional dog. I don’t fly often however I am afraid too. I have number of issues pertaining to reason I now have the dog. I flew in Dec 2016 before I got her took me way more than recommended dosage of my anxiety meds to just get on plane. Flew in Aug 2017 with my 4lb Chorkie that is prescribed to me from a Dr. Made a big difference in my life. I paid for my seat and told airline when purchased so they could notify anyone sitting near me. I think we all should have rights. I recommend if ppl have allergic reaction take medication before flight. If u are allergic to perfume do you want everyone to not wait just for u.
Peanut allergy and they clear the plane of them. Dog allergy and they drag you off the plane. More proof of the PC crazy world we live in.
This woman is a disgrace. She is fighting and lying to the police for minutes (I am walking, I am walking..). She then claims to be a professor (she clearly is not a professional), claims her dad has surgery…
Let’s say WN is wrong in removing her. I don’t know what trumps what (Allergies or support animals). This woman is making a spectacle out of herself. Walk off the damn plane like a human being and then sue WN if you are so inclined. But you are not resolving anything by resisting Police Officers.
Don’t film the incident. That is an epic fail IMO.
Her whining backfired. Had she had a serious allergic reaction in the air, that’s if she was telling the truth, the airline would come under fire. I do wonder if alternative seating was offered. I’ve seen passengers refuse to move, so they handled the situation correctly by removing her. You never challenge police officers doing their job, she was told to get off, GET OFF. You have a serious allergy to animals, and are not accommodated by the airline, why didnt she get off?
Amen
I travel domestically and extensively for my career position. I do not fly well, therefore, I have an emotional support animal that escorts me. Knowing that my animal is there to comfort me, mostly by my concern more for him then myself, is what calms me. When I am in between flights if applicable, I go off to the side to take him to do his business, to stretch our legs, and get food or water as needed. When we are on the plane, he is in his carrier, either under the seat or on my lap. There is absolutely no reason for a small companion or emotional support animal to have to be outside of its carrier to provide its service to the owner/traveler! When I feel that I need to have physical contact with my emotional support animal, I reach my hand into the zipper compartment and pet him. It’s infuriating that people take advantage of this, and ruin it for others like myself, and other passengers! The difference is, when you have a legitimate need for the animal, you don’t allow it to be treated like a pet, and be approached by other people, and petted and wood-on!
In the same sense, there is no reason why an emotional support or companion animal that has to be taken on to public transportation, is not muzzled if not able to fit in to a carrier! It’s hard to be able to do anything about a possible allergy to an animal, but not having control of, or muzzling your animal, should be grounds for not allowing it in public places, or on public transportation!
I notice the Southwest statement says a passenger “without a medical certificate.” Evidently the complainant did not provide documentation of her medical needs. I can see Southwest’s position based on that. Otherwise anyone who doesn’t want to be near an animal for whatever reason could just make up an allergy to get a different seat. I do think that they should seek volunteers in order to reseat one or both passengers in order to keep them well separated. Law enforcement should absolutely be the last resort.
I just want to know what kind of animal it was. Dog? Cat? Wombat?
I have no problem with the woman being removed after being asked to deplane. She brought no proof of the allergy and since she did not inform Southwest in advance, she really hurt her chances of any special treatment.
Without proof of the allergy, it doesn’t really matter if the dog is a legitimate service animal or not. As such, why stop at pet allergies; just start claiming you are highly allergic to all types of perfume/cologne so that you can have the entire row or even plane to yourself.
I’m very surprised they didn’t just deplane everyone and sort it out once everyone is off…
The real injustice is how much airlines extort you to transport a pet. I don’t blame people who fake having an emotional support animal, I love animals as long as they’re well behaved. Some people will just go out of their way to be butthurt I guess.
Her entitlement can be summed up by 3 words she uttered: “I’m a professor.”
If she is a typical professor, then she contributed to the snowflake culture that led to ESAs in the first place — and she should learn to live with the fruit born of political correctness.
Should pets be allowed in passenger cabin then the airlines should charge a “cleaning” fee in addition to the pet owner’s tariff. $400 would be an appropriate charge to have a cleaning crew standing by to remove animal dander.
We obviously don’t have all the facts yet, so I’m withholding judgment on “who’s to blame” here. That said, what if I show up for my transcon WN flight and a person with a large “emotional support animal” wants the seat next to me. As we all know, such animals do not have to meet the stringent training standards of service animals. And let’s say the animal’s behavior starts making me a little nervous (perhaps the exact opposite reaction of the person who brought the animal!). If I couldn’t just move to a vacant seat elsewhere, I’d probably ring the call button and say I don’t want to sit there. Would WN be right to say “tough luck” — sit next to the dog or don’t fly? That doesn’t seem right to me. Of course, once law enforcement comes, I’m going to walk off the plane, if they tell me I have to.
There is no line for emotional needs, and one must be drawn. Being pain free is not a right.
Let’s see if media darling Southwest receives a lot of bad press over this. If this were on one of the Big 3 there’d be boycotts forming already. Any such happenings with this?
The main issue as I see it is the airlines are not enforcing or even attempting to push back against these fake ESA’s (Are all ESA’s fake?). They are not taking the side of the majority of frequent fliers who don’t want untrained pets on the loose in the cabin.
According to the linked article, she stated it was a deathly allergy, which makes me think that she would not have been safe anywhere on the plane, not to mention there was an ESA and a pet onboard, so it was not necessarily just the service animal to blame. I feel that if you state I have an allergy they would be able to assist/arrange for you to sit in another area on the plane, but when you state it’s life threatening, that’s a whole other story.
I yearn for the old days when, if you wanted to read stories like this, you had to pay hard cash at the supermarket checkout for a copy of the National Enquirer.
Years ago, on a United flight from LAX to JFK a woman came aboard the plane and had a cat and sat next to me, up front. I have a severe cat allergy and voiced that to the FA. The result? I was reassigned a seat BACK IN COACH! About an hour into the flight, the woman let her cat out of the carrier and, BAM, the cat bolted, scratched several people and headed right for me. I didn’t need any stinking certificates saying I have an allergy, but I did go into respiratory arrest. Yes, the flight got diverted, no I never got an apology from UA. I’m sorry but, since when did a pet take precedent over a life threatening health issue for a human?
This issue should be always decided in favor of the physical health of the traveling public, not the so called “emotional” needs of ???
And I still don’t travel with any “certificates” certifying my issues
If it is a support animal it flies for free, regular animals pays…
Most Doctors will sign the paper for a buck…
Time to boot the Ducks..
If you’re that emotionally fragile that you can’t go anywhere without a dog, then you shouldn’t be allowed on an airplane. You could be a security threat.
I presume it was local officer that removed the passenger. This is similar the to “sanctuary city” argument about local enforcement of federal law.
I think the airports need to placard, and robo announce, their policy on enforcement of federal laws about obeying flight crew instructions.
@Gary Your URL is cut off to say “the rapy animals.” Was very confused about why a reputable org (WaPo) would have an article about sexually deviant animals (and why you would link to such a piece)!
Couldn’t a lot of this be handled in advance?
Large people are required to buy an extra (inadequate) seat. Why not people with an accompanying animal? Why are these people with animals not seated in advance in a special section?
The airlines could notify people in advance that the plane is OK’d for animals. You’ve been warned: bring your certificates of illness with you, allergy folks.
Airlines want everything both ways. Sticking with their algorithms, cramming folks in, complying just enough with the few remaining passenger protections, taking off on time with compliant cattle.
Dear airlines, provide some REAL assistance and REAL clarity to your passengers instead of just charging for everything and hustling people around like numbered sheep. Duh.
P.S. Apparently WN is now #flyerfriendly!
They should learn the word deboard. #SMH
I feel for those that really need a ESA while flying but it is just like the public to find a loophole and take advantage of it. Where was this need 25 yrs ago? I didn’t see animals on planes, in airports , grocery stores, department stores, etc. It is just something that has taken on a life of it’s own. Most doctors don’t care and will sign a letter just to get their patient out of the office.
Look at how many people get opioids easily?
We are accommadating the few in spite of the masses.
Easy solution to end this is charge a $200 fee for all ESA animals. Not an ESA, put them in the hold like we did for 50 yrs. I guarentee you that many people will refrain from taking their “ESA”. I should not be subjected to an unruly dog and for those with allergies, how uncomfortable must they be sitting next to a full grown dog on a transcontinental flight!!
She is a liar. She was not trying to walk, she was being as uncooperative as she possibly could.
Maybe the biggest problem was the width of her head?
I just do not understand how people assume they can resist the police. I am sure the police asked her nicely several times…She got what she deserved
My son and daughter-in-law were on that flight. That woman is a liar. It was obvious in the boarding area that a dog would be aboard. She was on the opposite side of the airplane from the dog. Southwest brought in numerous employees to speak with her before the police were called.
she refused to removed. She said she could walk but then refused to move. Sorry but this lady should have had a medical certificate, should have carried meds if her condition was so severe. She had none of this. Sounds like a scam to get freebies off the airlines.
I wonder if this lady was the same lady I flew with from LGA a few weeks back. I have an ESA as I have panic attacks in confined spaces. I’ve actually passed out on a flight before. With my job, I have absolutely no choice but to fly— and a lot. My ESA is insanely well behaved and has gone through service classes. This lady also completely lost her marbles and tried to speak to me like I didn’t know my rights and the law. I am a considerate person, if you have allergies then just let me know. I will keep her in the carrier (which is 100% not required) and just pet/talk to her from there. She stormed off mid flight and yelled (yes, yelled) at the FA. I don’t think all of us with ESA’s are inconsiderate. I would certainly move so I’m curious if that was an option in this Southwest flight. When we flew on Emirates earlier this year, if we had flown in business or coach they have special sections for those that asked. All other airlines do not that I’m aware of.
My wife is a psychiatrist. She signs the paperwork for people all the time. I’m not even sure if she’s even allowed to question it. But she tells me that most of it is BS. Not saying their aren’t people who really benefit from it, but a lot of people are abusing the system just so they can travel with their pet instead of putting it in a kennel or putting them in the belly of the plane.
Was there a better solution to just ask if someone would switch seats with this PAX? I know people who are allergic to pets and I don’t think they go into anaphylactic shock. Mostly just teary eyes or itchy throat.
Why not just let her sign a legal waiver form that she is aware of the risk and that all responsibilites from the airline is waived in case anything goes south?
I mean U.S. companies do that for all sorts of extreme sports, why not for such a case? I’m sure if you can waive your claim for an extreme sport where you might die its possible to waive the same stuff for an allergy
There is mention that the allergy claim is bogus because the passenger did not have a medical certificate. I suspect that the “emotional support animal” status is likewise bogus. There is a difference between true service animals (for the blind, physically disabled, documented PTSD, etc.), which have gone through extensive training and are certified by some governmental agency, and “emotional support animals” which qualify as such because their person purchased a vest and perhaps a doctor’s note from Ebay. The abuses are rampant by people who want to fly with their pet in the cabin for free. Unfortunately, since there are no nationwide governmental standards for certification or licensing “emotional support animals,” anyone can claim their animal as such. And those doing so justify their actions by pointing out that they are not acting fraudulently since having their animal nearby while in flight provides them with comfort. Or they justify it by referencing the price the airlines charge for transporting a non-service pet. However, since the airlines limit the number of pets which can travel in the cabin, those passengers claiming their pets are service animals when they are not, are depriving those passengers who truly need a service animal to assist them the opportunity to book their chosen flight if the capacity for animals in the cabin is exceeded. A friend’s daughter travels regularly on Southwest with her “emotional support dog,” and a doctor’s note, and never has paid for the dog to fly. There is no valid reason why this girl needs the dog’s “support” during flight, and if she truly needs to bring her dog with her while traveling, then she should be willing to pay for the privilege. The airlines need to crack down on the abuse, and the government needs to establish uniform standards for what constitutes a “service animal.” Re animals in the cabin in general…I had the pleasure of being seated next to a man with a puppy he had just picked up from a breeder (note-I support adoption of homeless pets), and the puppy was well behaved and the highlight of the flight for all in his vicinity as well as the flight attendants…and the owner paid for the puppy’s ticket! There have never been any problems or noise with any of the cats or dogs which have been aboard my flights (which seems to be almost every flight since there are so many “emotional support animals” now days). I would rather have a cat/dog/or other domestic furry animal share my cramped cabin space than a screaming baby or unruly children. But please, no “emotional support” snakes on a plane!