Business travelers on US airlines have often felt they were instead boarding Noah’s Ark, encountering emotional support roosters, snakes, pigs, monkeys, hamsters, dogs and even a purported emotional support peacock that ruffled United’s feathers. Yet thousands of flyers will not board without their support animal. Now the other shoe—or paw—has dropped, and American Airlines has followed United and Delta in an attempt to bring some order to the menagerie.
American just put out an announcement detailing what the airline calls, in wonderfully Orwellian language, the “enhanced requirements” for traveling with emotional and/or psychiatric support animals. According to a spokesman, American wanted to get input from disability advocacy groups before initiating the new regulations, which focus primarily on emotional support animals, not trained service animals.
The ‘enhanced requirements’, of course, are actually a set of limitations. For example, traveling with a service or emotional/psychiatric support animal will also bar both of you from sitting in comfortable exit row seats for safety reasons. If an approved animal meets the list of ‘enhanced requirements’, it can fly with you if it can fit at your feet, under your seat or in your lap. If the animal is to be seated on your lap, it must be smaller than a 2-year old child. And “emotional support and service animals” (categories that many experts believe are quite different) cannot protrude into or block aisles, occupy a seat, and, no matter how cute or clean, eat from tray tables.
The behavior of even approved service animals will be monitored. The owner is expected to keep his companion under control at all times, and tethered by leash and/or harness. Growling, biting or attempting to bite and jumping on or lunging at people are no-nos. Mysteriously, American states the penalty if such behavior isn’t corrected or controlled (also known as being “a bad boy”) is not ejection at the next airport but that the animal “will be considered a pet and all pet requirements and applicable fees (typically $125) will apply.” Like other airlines, American now bans a wide range of dogs and cats from traveling as checked baggage, from pit bulls and boxers to brachycephalic or snub-nosed dogs and cats like bulldogs and Boston Terriers.
So who qualifies as a support animal on American—and who doesn’t? It’s hard to believe anyone would use a spider or insect as a support animal, but they are now specifically banned. So are amphibians, ferrets, goats, hedgehogs and rodents like the ‘emotional support hamster’ tragically flushed down an aircraft toilet. Animals with tusks, horns or hooves are specifically verboten, which probably excludes emotional support pigs. However, there is a specific exception to the “no hoof” rule for miniature horses that have been “properly trained as service animals.” Flyers also must just say no to reptiles and snakes, as well as “non-household birds” such as farm poultry, waterfowl, game birds and birds of prey. The eagle may be part of American’s logo but it won’t be joining you in the cabin.
Some AA regulations, such as its ban on any animal that is “unclean or has an odor”, seem open to interpretation. And other animals, like the monkey that roamed a Las Vegas flight, are not specifically banned. But American says it is prepared for such arguments, as “our employees are trained to ask certain questions to determine the classification applicable to your animal.”
As part of the process, the airline is also tightening documentation requirements for emotional support animals. American requires three pieces of documentation, including a signed form from a mental health professional, behavior guidelines and a form stating that on flights over 8 hours, your animal won’t need to relieve itself or can do so in a way that doesn’t create a health or sanitation issue. All this must be provided to American’s Special Assistance Desk at least 48 hours before a flight. The airline also notes that the “documentation validation” process will include contacting the passenger’s mental health professional.
Will the new “enhanced requirements” for emotional support animals bring order back to the cabin and the boarding process? We’ll find out over the July 4th weekend, as the new beast ban begins July 1, at the height of the summer travel season.
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