My friend with service dog for daughter went as family to europe. She planned flight to england out of New York to have the shortest time in air for his comfort. There are comfort areas at airports so can go before flight. She did say you have to be prepared with all your paperwork. Took a while when got there to go through customs or whatever with the dog.
Untrained Animals have zero place in an enclosed area where people cannot escape (service animals are highly trained). A personâs right to breathe takes precedence every time - full stop - over someoneâs right to have a pet with him (and yes, an ESA is a PET).
An epi-pen is only for certain kinds of issues.
If you want to watch someone gasping on a plane, just bring your pets/ESA animals. There are many people who cannot tolerate your petâs dander. Leave your pet/ESA at home, just as you had to do all these years before this entitlement started.
So I want to fly this weekend with my pet in his carrier. How does that work when someone may have allergies. He is a full bred poodle which helps somewhat.
People are different but since poodles donât shed, it should be fine. Iâm allergic to dogs in general and fine with the no-shed breeds.
@partyof5 - check the specific airlineâs policies. They can vary quite a bit.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the airlineâs spokesman contends that Daulatzai âdemanded an EpiPen and was uncooperative,â adding, âWe do not have or administer shots.â Its sounds like Daulatzai thought an EpiPen was an appropriate treatment for her dog allergies.
Now itâs about skin color and not dogs. From WaPo: "They just didnât trust me,â she told the ABC News show, breaking her silence a week after video of the incident went viral. âI was a brown woman with a hoodie.â
Weâll have to rely on witnesses. She says she talked about her allergies and was reseated in the back, away from the dogs, and was fine with it. Then they came in and tried to remove her and she resisted. It could be just a CYA issue for the airline to get rid of someone who was loud and could cause trouble mid-flight or later about the dogs. Or it could be as SW says.
There is a discussion on flyertalk of a recent SW incident where a family of 3 was kicked off a plane because they disagreed with having their babyâs seat facing forward instead of backward. They complied with the order but were deplaned anyway! You canât be too meek nowadays.
Unfortunately, itâs tough to get a clear picture in many of these cases. Even eyewitness accounts donât always tell the whole story. The passenger three rows away may hear their fellow passenger say, âSure Iâll take my seatâ, but they may not hear that same person growl a threat at the FA under their breath or tell the FA theyâre about to have a medical emergency because of their âmistreatment.â
I was on a plane once where a customer kept insisting very loudly that the flight attendants were discriminating against her because she was large. She was using insulting and inflammatory language and threatening to go âabove their headsâ and to the media. The issue was that she was standing in the aisle arranging, rearranging, and rearranging yet again, her items in the overhead compartment while a very long line of other passengers built up behind her. The FAâs were simply asking her to step into her row for a moment to let some passengers past so the plane could continue to load. She was so deliberately slow that it became apparent she was being passive aggressive in holding up boarding. Luckily she eventually moved when they started to ignore her, but a passenger who had just boarded could have misinterpreted the FAâs justified frustration as sizeism instead of what it was - PITAism.
If the woman simply asked to be seated away from dogs, thatâs one thing. If she claimed to have a severe allergy (not sure who claimed âlife threateningâ) then she should know that she is responsible for having medical documentation and there is an option on their website to provide âadd/edit disability optionsâ to the reservation in advance of the flight. If she had done so (and if she is that allergic, she would likely know the protocol-- she is a professor and one would assume would know how to research this) perhaps they could have worked with her to coordinate her seating and that of the person with the ESA and/or pet as far apart as possible. Interestingly, their website says they can insist that a pet traveling stay in its carrier, but cannot insist an ESA or service dog do so. https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/unique-travel-needs/customers-with-disabilities-pol.html And while they say they cannot request advance notice of a passenger travelling with an ESA, they CAN ask for the letter, written within one year, from the personâs treating mental health professional, if the person is claiming to have an ESA. If they have no valid letter, they should be the one to deplane, IMO.
That said, if she is that allergic, she should likely carry her own inhalers or antihistamine (unlikely it causes an anaphylactic reaction needing an epipen). Asthma inhalers and epipens are prescribed medications and its not likely, unless possibly in an emergency with the aid of a medical professional on board, that a non-medical personnel is going to dispense prescribed medication. Anyone here know what is contained in a passenger flight emergency kit? @busdriver11, can you help?
When I flew across country a few weeks ago right after I broke my ankle, I was advised (here!) to have written confirmation from the MD that I was released to fly. When I asked for that at the Drs. office they looked at me like I had 2 heads, but they added it to the discharge forms for me just in case. I did not need it, of course. But I did make advance arrangements for a wheelchair and bulkhead seats. I have a few upcoming flights and though hopefully wonât need to be back on crutches, I am still in an orthopedic boot so did get bulkhead seats and I will get up and move about to try to prevent a clot or what have you. It is the responsibility of the passenger to make arrangements for their safe flight and any necessary accommodation requests in advance of the flight. Its not the responsibility of the airlines to modify things to please entitled passengers.
OK, rant over.
Am a dog lover, and general supporter of reasonable ESAs. That being said, was just on a SW flight where I saw a person with a rather large shepherd mix who did not look super trained (noticed at the gate that the dog was sniffing people as they walked by!). The crew put them on first, in the bulkhead. The dog obviously needed the room. As much as I love dogs I would have been nervous to sit by that dog. The crew said it was a full flight but I noticed the seat next to him was empty (perhaps he bought an extra seat?). There was a person on the aisle seat (so a middle seat stayed empty).
Hereâs a better example of gate agent requests and passenger responses at SWA
http://www.nola.com/travel/index.ssf/2017/09/new_orleans_airport_singing_so.html
@SouthFloridaMom9 I also love dogs, but if the dog was not crated, then they were claiming it was a service or ESO. Service dogs are WELL TRAINED to essentially be invisible, and wouldnât be sniffing others. This, person was likely claiming ESO. I really wish the airlines would be stricter on asking for the documentation. It may be awkward, but they have the right to follow their policy/protocol.
Asking a service dog to hold it for a 14-15 hour flight is just plain cruel. Full stop.
In a logical and reasonable world that might be the case. But we are far past that type of world. My community has decided âpetâ is a derogatory term and all animals are now âcompanionsâ. College students have come up with an incredible amount of âIâm so specialâ and therefore need special consideration situations. They need to be treated individually for housing, studying, eating, sleeping, access to (fill in the blank), trigger warnings, safe spaces, pee spaces and protection from âoffensiveâ speech. This entitlement to ESAâs is just an extension of that, for what we - the supposed adults of this circus - have laid the ground work.
Everyone is special, everyone has a right to an exemption based on their specialness. Iâm more special than you and if you donât agree, i sue. Certain âspecialnessâ carries more political clout and possible financial gain.
Donât snowflakes melt on airplanes? 
âAsking a service dog to hold it for a 14-15 hour flight is just plain cruel. Full stop.â
D has spent a few summers fostering dogs for a local rescue. Every once in a while we get a dog thatâs like a camel - weâve seen some go >24 hours without peeing. The first time we were worried and called the rescue, and they said some dogs are just like that. Our own dog typically goes about 12-14 hours without peeing at night - from about 7pm to 9am. So I donât think itâs outrageous in all cases for a dog to hold it for 15 hours.
If someone has an allergy to dogs, but itâs not a life-threatening allergy, they shouldnât be forced to put up with it because someone wants to bring Rover on the plane. My husband should itch, get short of breath, have eyes and nose running, because Britney canât be bothered to put Max in the cargo hold?
Apparently SWA doesnât allow dogs in the cargo hold. They will have to pick another airline.
Apparently one dog was an ESA, another was a paying dog in an underseat carrier.
We traveled with our dog once this summer, making sure to take direct flights there and back and a flight that wasnât too long. There were 5 of us plus the dog. Can you imagine the dog being bumped, and at least one of us needing to wait for the next dayâs flight? In a pet friendly hotel? And all that happens after youâve checked your bags? Yikes, air travel can be complicated.
I once knew someone who worked for a major airline. She told me that putting a dog in a cargo hold is cruel. They sit on the tarmac in summer sometimes for a long time and overheat. This airline had dogs die every year.
We had show dogs when I was young, who had to travel that way. Wasnât happy about it, but had no choice.
As for ESAs, Having chatted informally with colleagues in the MH profession, I would bet the very vast majority of âESAâsâ on planes are scams. Many people with severe anxiety or related mood issues do not fly. There was a discussion on one of my professional listservs recently about the potential liability the provider might have if they write a letter for someone (real patient or not) and that personâs animal injures someone on the plane, or the pet has an accident on the floor of the airport and someone slips and falls, etc. ESAs are pets. They are not trained to perform a specific service like a service dog. Just as there are pet-friendly hotels, there are pet-friendly airlines http://www.ajc.com/events/petsâanimals/pets-plane-which-airlines-are-most-pet-friendly/udcnySTyjqCkcxoJ5mwk1O/
I thought I read somewhere that there were some specific flights that catered to animals.