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The federal government gave final approval on Wednesday to a set of rules that crack down on the types of service animals allowed on U.S. flights, reserving the designation for dogs and freeing airlines from having to accommodate a variety of animals. emotional support.
The changes, which have attracted more than 15,000 public comments since the Transportation Department proposed them earlier this year, will take effect next month.
They sparked intense debate among airlines, disability advocates who rely on service animals, and passenger rights groups, and came as growing numbers of travelers took a variety of animals on flights in recent years.
More recently, transportation regulators had said miniature dogs, cats and horses should be considered service animals by airlines. But the passengers tried to travel with monkeys, birds and rabbits, raising eyebrows on fellow passengers and testing airline policies.
Federal transportation officials said on Wednesday that the disruption caused by the taking of unusual species on board airlines had “eroded public confidence in legitimate service animals” and that there were more and more cases of travelers “fraudulently representing their pets as service animals”.
The new rules require airlines to treat psychiatric service animals the same as other service animals. The owners of these service animals must provide documentation prepared by the transport service attesting to the health, behavior and training of the animal.
Passengers traveling with service animals will no longer be required to check-in physically at the airport rather than online.
The new rules have stopped banning emotional support animals outright, but supporters have said airlines will no longer have to accommodate unserved animals in the cabin.
Some airlines, including Delta and Southwest, have said they are reviewing their policies for carrying animals on flights. And some airlines allow passengers to bring small pets in the cabin for a fee.
Lobbying group Airlines for America, which includes all major U.S. carriers, welcomed the changes.
“The Department of Transportation’s final rule will protect the traveling public and airline crew members from untrained animals in the cabin, and improve the accessibility of air travel for passengers with disabilities who travel with dogs. assistance trained, ”said group president Nicholas E. Calio. , said in a statement Wednesday.
Some disability advocates said the new rules were too rigid and did not take into account travelers with special needs.
“There are a large number of people with intellectual and emotional disabilities who benefit from this type of support while traveling,” Curt Decker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, said in an interview Wednesday night.
Mr Decker said travelers with disabilities were penalized because other people abused the system and airlines tackled the problem by charging expensive fees for transporting pets in the holds.
“There is no one in the disability community who thinks a turkey is a service animal,” Decker said.
Douglas Kidd, executive director of the National Airline Passengers Association, a non-profit organization, said in an interview on Wednesday evening that the new rules did not allow adequate space for service animals to be provided in airports. planes. He said a series of high-profile episodes of animals dying while boarding planes resulted in passengers attempting to take their pets on board.
“Animals are living things, and it’s not just baggage,” he said. “If airlines took better care of the animals in their care, people would be more likely to ship them.”
The Flight Attendants Association, the union that represents nearly 50,000 flight attendants from 20 airlines, said in a statement that federal government advice was badly needed.
“Passengers who claim pets are emotional support animals have threatened the safety and health of passengers and crews in recent years,” Union president Sara Nelson said in a statement. “Flight attendants were injured and safety was compromised by untrained animals roaming the cabin.”
Mona Ramouni, 40, a blind Michigan resident who relied heavily on her miniature horse Cali when she flew, lamented the rule change. She said her horse, which is 29 inches tall, weighs around 170 pounds and fits in the area in front of aircraft bulkhead seats, was better trained than most assistance dogs and had a lifespan longer.
“So now I can’t go anywhere with my horse?” Ms Ramouni said in an interview on Wednesday evening. “It’s completely unfair. It’s not something I do because it’s fun. It’s something I do because I want to have a semi-normal life.
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