A final rule from the Department of Transportation of the United States to amend the Air Carrier Access Act regulation pertaining to the transportation of service animals via airplane was issued in this official document of 122 pages which was signed by Elaine Chao — who is the current secretary of transportation of the United States — on Monday, November 30, 2020.
No More Free Transportation of Emotional Support Animals Via Airplane: Final Rule Issued by the Department of Transportation of the United States
This final rule is intended to ensure that the air transportation system in the United States is safe for the traveling public — as well as accessible to individuals with disabilities — and it was issued as a result of comments which were requested by the Department of Transportation earlier this year pertaining to the perceived abuse of owners of pets who passed off their dogs, cats, turkeys, and other animals as “emotional support animals” in order to bypass paying expensive fees to transport them.
As per the new updated guidelines, only dogs may be officially designated as service animals; and owners must attest that they are indeed specially trained to provide services to the passenger.
The following is a summary of the major provisions of the document:
| Subject |
Final Rule |
|---|---|
| Definition of Service Animal | A service animal is 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. |
| Emotional Support Animals | Carriers are not required to recognize emotional support animals as service animals and may treat them as pets. |
| Treatment of Psychiatric Service Animals | Psychiatric service animals are treated the same as other service animals that are individually trained to do work or perform a task for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability. |
| Species | Carriers are permitted to limit service animals to dogs. |
| Health, Behavior and Training Form | Carriers are permitted to require passengers to remit a completed hardcopy or electronic version of the Department’s “U.S. Department of Transportation Service Animal Air Transportation Form” as a condition of transportation. |
| Relief Attestation | Carriers are permitted to require individuals traveling with a service animal on flights eight hours or longer to remit a completed hardcopy or electronic version the Department’s “U.S. Department of Transportation Service Animal Relief Attestation” as a condition of transportation. |
| Number of Service Animals per Passenger | Carriers are permitted to limit the number of service animals traveling with a single passenger with a disability to two service animals. |
| Large Service Animals | Carriers are permitted to require a service animal to fit on their handler’s lap or within its handler’s foot space on the aircraft. |
| Control of Service Animals | Carriers are permitted to require a service animal to be harnessed, leashed, or otherwise tethered in areas of the airport that they own, lease, or control,and on the aircraft. |
| Service Animal Breed or Type | Carriers are prohibited from refusing to transport a service animal based solely on breed or generalized physical type, as distinct from an individualized assessment of the animal’s behavior and health. |
| Check-In Requirements | Carriers are not permitted to require a passenger with a disability to physically check-in at the airport, rather than using the online check-in process, on the basis that the individual is traveling with a service animal. Airlines may require a passenger with a disability seeking to travel with a service animal to provide the service animal form(s) at the passenger’s departure gate on the date of travel. |
| Advance Notice Requirements | Carriers may require individuals traveling with a service animal to provide a U.S. Department of Transportation Service Animal Air Transportation Form and, if applicable, a U.S. Department of Transportation Service Animal Relief Attestation up to 48 hours in advance of the date of travel if the passenger’s reservation was made prior to that time. |
The final rule could be expected to generate annual cost savings to airlines of between $15.6 million and $21.6 million — as well as annual net benefits of $3.9 million to $12.7 million.
Summary
I intend to comment more about this final rule issued by the Department of Transportation in a future article, as the purpose of this article is to simply impart general information with regard to the final rule.
Meanwhile, I have written extensively over the years pertaining to service dogs and emotional support animals in the form of articles posted here at The Gate — including:
- Emotional Support Animal Bites Guest at Hotel: Who is Responsible?
- Banning Emotional Support Animals From Airplanes: Your Comments Requested by the Department of Transportation
- Another Example of Why People Register Their Pets as Emotional Support Animals
- Not One, But TWO Huge Emotional Support Dogs In the Same Row in Business Class
- Final Statement on Emotional Support Animals Aboard Airplanes Issued by Department of Transportation of the United States
- Flight Attendant Bitten by Emotional Support Dog
- Man Bitten By Emotional Support Animal Sues Airline For Damages
- Emotional Support Animals Banned on Long-Haul United Flights — And…
- Emotional Support Animals Banned on Long-Haul Delta Flights — And…
- Stricter Requirements for Emotional Support Animals By Southwest Airlines
- Stricter Requirements for Emotional Support Animals By JetBlue Airways
- Stricter Requirements for Emotional Support Animals By American Airlines
- Passengers To Be Limited to One Emotional Support Animal on Delta Air Lines
- Stricter Requirements for Emotional Support Animals By Alaska Airlines
- Stricter Requirements for Emotional Support Animals By United Airlines
- Enhancements Added to Stricter Requirements for Emotional Support Animals and Service Dogs By Delta Air Lines
- Stricter Requirements for Emotional Support Animals and Service Dogs By Delta Air Lines
- In Defense of Emotional Support Animals? Not Exactly
- Forget Hamsters. How About True Emotional Support From an Airline?
- Can an Emotional Support Animal Be Used as a Threat?
- Why It is NOT Time to Ban Emotional Support Animals From Airplanes
- Confession by Pet Owner: “Emotional Support Dogs” are “B.S.”
- Emotional Support Animals: More Evidence of Faking
- Support Animals Versus Allergies: Here We Go Again
- Woman Forcibly Removed From Airplane Reignites Support Animals Versus Allergy Debate
- Service Animals or Emotional Support Animals: A Pig Continues The Debate
- Service Dog Denied Permission to Board an Airplane? Yeah — When Pigs Fly! Oh, Wait a Minute…
- When Pigs Fly: Somebody Tell The Sun That This is 2017
- Passengers Applaud as Boy Allergic to Dog is Removed From Airplane
- Update: Misinterpretation of Applause From Passengers Over Allergic Boy? What Really Matters is…
- Service Animals: Your Comments Requested by the Department of Transportation
- Delta Air Lines to No Longer Accept Pets as Checked Baggage
- Service Dog Denied Permission to Board an Airplane? Yeah — When Pigs Fly! Oh, Wait a Minute…
- Video: Woman Escorted Off the Airplane By Police Because of Her Unruly Dog
- Can Orphaned Parrots, Crows and Ravens Qualify as Service Animals?
- Service Animals Bill: Could a Legal Decision Arrive in Florida as Soon as Tomorrow?
- Service Animals Bill Unanimously Passes in Florida Today; To Become Law on July 1, 2015
- Court Rejects Ruling of Air Canada Separating Dogs From Allergic Passengers
- Dog Days in Flight, and How to Avoid Paying a Fee for Your Dog
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
