Emotional Support Animals On Planes

Airlines don't have to treat emotional support animals as service animals, a new rule says.the u.s.

Emotional support animals on planes. A new rule by the u.s. Esas are distinct from service animals like guide dogs, which undergo intense training to support individuals with a specific disability. In a story we reported in 2017 , we exposed how easy it was to bring an untrained animal on a plane.

United airlines carried 76,000 comfort animals in 2017. 1 /1 the strangest emotional support animals on planes. They may still fly based on the airline’s guidelines for pet travel.

Thu, dec 03, 2020 login subscribe What began as a way to support the emotional needs of its passengers evolved into a […] The biggest implication of this policy change is that emotional support animals are now going to be categorized as pets, rather than service animals.

“dog[s] that [are] individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability.” In 1986 congress passed a law permitting esas to accompany passengers on planes, but they didn’t become a common sight until recent years. After years of debate, the government is putting an end to emotional support animals on planes.

Department of transportation to further restrict or prohibit emotional support animals onboard. Department of transportation eliminates special access for emotional support animals on airplanes and limits allowable service animals—those animals that are trained to perform a task to assist someone with a disability—to dogs only. The strangest emotional support animals on planes.

Southwest airlines handles more than 190,000 emotional support animals per year. Again, these new restrictions apply to service animals, and emotional support animals are no longer categorized as such. Under the new guidelines, only service.