|
In our last message we shared with you that the Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Protection has asked Advocates for Service Animal Partners for more information about the challenges faced by service animal handlers by
airlines. Since that message, we have received a number of inquiries about what discriminatory practices by airlines look like. In an effort to clarify just what is discriminatory under the Air Carrier Access Act, we are sharing more information from the DOT
concerning service animals in air travel. Below is the executive summary of the implementing regulations of the ACAA.
After reading this information, if you feel you have been discriminated against by an airline, we need to hear from you! If you have faced challenges with air travel as the result of the service animal forms, a third-party screening company,
or airline personnel otherwise interfering with your air travel, please let us know. Be sure to include the date and time of your trip, the name of the airline, the airport where the incident occurred, any companions or others who witnessed the incident, and
how it concluded. If your concern involves the inconsistent use of the DOT form, please include the form you completed, if you have it. If your concern is about a third party, include the name of the company and its representative, if known, along with any
correspondence you may have. Be sure to include your name and contact information
should we need to get in touch with you. You can send an email with the details of your experience to
Advoc...@gmail.com
Executive Summary of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA)
This final rule defines a service animal as a dog, regardless of breed or type, that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric,
intellectual, or other mental disability. [1] It allows airlines to recognize emotional support animals as pets, rather than service animals, and permits airlines to limit the number of service animals that one passenger can bring onboard an aircraft to two
service animals. The final rule also allows airlines to require passengers with a disability traveling with a service animal to complete and submit to the airline a form, developed by DOT, attesting to the animal's training and good behavior, and certifying
the animal's good health. For
flight segments of eight hours or more, the rule allows airlines to require passengers to complete and submit a DOT form attesting that the animal has the ability either not to relieve itself on a long flight or to relieve itself in a
sanitary manner.
In addition, this final rule allows airlines to require a service animal user to provide these forms up to 48 hours in advance of the date of travel if the passenger's reservation was made prior to that time. As an alternative, airlines
may require a passenger with a disability seeking to travel with a service animal in the cabin to provide the forms at the passenger's
departure gate on the date of travel. However, the final rule prohibits airlines from requiring that a passenger physically check-in at the airport solely on the basis that the individual is traveling with a service animal, thus ensuring
that service animal users are not prevented from enjoying the same convenience-related benefits provided to other passengers, such as online and curbside check-in. Service animal users may use the online check-in process available to the general public.
This final rule also better ensures the safety of passengers and crewmembers by allowing carriers to require that service animals are harnessed, leashed, or otherwise tethered onboard an aircraft and includes requirements that would address
the safe transport of large service animals in the aircraft cabin. Further, it specifies the circumstances under which the user of a service animal may be charged for damage caused by the service animal and addresses the responsibilities of code-share partners.
|
