But I think this arguably already exists—in the cargo section of planes, since that happened 500K+ times last year.
The deaths/injuries that occurred are unfortunately, but are statistically very small. Were some of those incidents avoidable? Absolutely, but human error and stupidity happens. It’s damn hard to eliminate ALL human stupidity. Heck, those rates might even be safer than driving those 500K pets around, given the traffic accident stats.
I know this isn’t the pet topic, but if they accidently stuck my pet in a freezer, human oops would not be good enough. That’s a member of my family. Also, I don’t travel with my pets. I think there is a good chance my luggage isn’t going to make it. I would travel with pet in sight at all times or they would pry that carrier with my cold dead fingers.
No, they can’t. They can ask questions about the animal, specifically about what it is trained to do. They cannot ask about the owner’s disability or ask for medical records.
In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability.
Basically, service animals are categorized similarly as wheelchairs. Once it’s established that a metal object is a wheelchair, it cannot be denied entry. The medical history of the person with the wheelchair is irrelevant.
Q37. Do commercial airlines have to comply with the ADA?
A . No. The Air Carrier Access Act is the Federal law that protects the rights of people with disabilities in air travel. For information or to file a complaint, contact the U.S. Department of Transportation, Aviation Consumer Protection Division, at 202-366-2220.
And according to the ACAA:
Which service animals are allowed in the cabin?
- A wide variety of service animals are permitted in the cabin portion of the aircraft flying to and within the United States; however, most service animals tend to be dogs and cats. Airlines may exclude animals that:
- Are too large or heavy to be accommodated in the cabin;
- Pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others;
- Cause a significant disruption of cabin service; or
- Are prohibited from entering a foreign country.
Note: Airlines are never required to accept snakes, reptiles, ferrets, rodents, sugar gliders, and spiders.
What kind of documentation can be required of persons travelling with emotional support animals and psychiatric service animals?
- Airlines may require documentation that is not older than one year from the date of your scheduled initial flight that states:
- You have a mental or emotional disability that is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM);
- You need your emotional support or psychiatric support animal as an accommodation for air travel and/or for activity at your destination;
- The individual providing the assessment is a licensed mental health professional and the passenger is under his/her professional care; and
- The licensed health care professional’s;
- Date and type of professional license; and
- Jurisdiction or state in which their license was issued.
ESAs are not service animals. Totally different rules apply. For example, ESAs can be banned from restaurants, but service animals cannot.
I must admit I am learning a lot here today.
None of this is going to help a bit with my emotional support giraffe.
I’d be happy to never encounter the person who requires an emotional support spider.
Then perhaps you would be interested in this little factoid:
Until recently, “service animal” meant “service dog”, because only dogs could qualify as service animals. But not anymore. Now there are exactly two species on earth that can be ADA-compliant service animals.
Meet… the service miniature horse.
Pony rides for EVERYONE!
Right. Because companies are scared to death of refusing a legit service dog and ending up on the news as discriminating against a disabled flyer. They just ended up letting everyone through that claimed their animal was necessary.
This.
(Luckily it is extremely unlikely that I would have take my cats on a flight. A 2 hour house move involving sedation and by car was the longest).
Sorry, when I mentioned airlines being allowed to require documentation, i was speaking of ESA’s as was covered in that material i previously posted, since i think inn this conversation people are talking about people claiming that their pets are emotional support animals.
If they don’t accept sugar gliders, they are all dead to me.
I didn’t really have that luxury when we moved from Boston to Seattle back in 2008. I had three parrots, and driving across the country with them would have been far more stressful for them than the few hour flight. My parents took care of them while we got settled, and then I flew back to get them. Since I was flying alone, I was only allowed to bring one of my three into the cabin with me. (One pet per passenger.) My African Grey was too big to have a carrier that would fit under the seat. My blue crowned conure would have fit, barely, but I chose to bring my elderly lovebird into the cabin with me… who was also the smallest. He was perfectly behaved on the entire flight, and no one even knew I had an animal with me.
But I can tell you that leaving the other two in the airport to be taken out of my sight was the most stressful thing I’d ever had to do. I cried when I left them, thinking I’d never see them again. When I landed at Seattle and made my way to the area I was to retrieve them, I could hear them halfway down the terminal. They didn’t sound stressed, just normal vocalizations, and when I got there, I cried tears of joy. They were perfectly fine, and I honestly think they handled the trip better than I did. Maybe it helped they had each other in the pet hold (even if they were in separate cages).
When we moved back to the northeast a few years ago, I only had my Grey. (The other two passed, both of old age, while we were out in Seattle.) Again, he had to go in the pet hold because he was too big. He seemed a bit more stressed out when I retrieved him this time (perhaps because he was alone this trip?) but he got over it within a day.
I realize that not every pet makes it through okay, and maybe I was lucky. It was not the ideal situation, but driving all the way across the country with them was not a better solution. If it was driving a few hours? Maybe. Not several days though.
I flew Alaska Air both times, fwiw. They were amazing. I remember that on both flights, one of the flight attendants came to find me to give me a ticket that confirmed that the birds were on board, which was some amount of relief. Not sure if the other airlines do that too.
My heart breaks, and I already know the outcome was good. I get it, and yeah I’ve been fortunate enough to have never had to travel long distance with pets, except for a move, and that was a drive, long one.
It just seems so wrong that this…
Is a real fear. All the statistics, not that not many happens, it’s mostly United remarks doesn’t really address. Yes, stuff happens no matter what we do to try and minimize it, but some of these losses seem attributed to individuals who just forget, even for just a few hours, that they’re dealing with living creatures who are often loved, dearly, by their owners.
And birds are already so fragile. I doubt I could let them out of my sight. You’re stronger than I am @Hansey.
There is at least one company trying to answer this demand. Last time I looked they didn’t cover many cities.
I’m pretty sure that if people were willing pay what it actually costs to transport their pets by air, airlines would be happy to accommodate them. Want a seat on the plane for your pet? Buy the seat. If everyone were willing to do that, the airlines would surely go along and come up with a way to make it work, at least for a reasonable range of animals.
This is simply not indicated by the data posted earlier in this thread.
I note that they’re charging on average $500 to fly your pet, and as much as $1200 for larger pets. Like I said, airlines would take that money in a heartbeat.
Ah, understood. I thought you were talking about people traveling with pets or service animals.
When my family flew transatlantic earlier this year, our German Shepherds had to fly as cargo. That still cost 3 times as much per animal as we paid for each human.