Delta Cracks Down on Emotional Support Animals

By Amy Fernandez

We knew it couldn’t last. Well, actually, it could have if a certain element within our society (including the sport of purebred dogs) had not been intent on gaming the system– and bragging about it. Recently, Delta issued its revised regulations for traveling with emotional support animals. Don’t worry, they don’t go into effect until March 1 so it’s not gonna mess up your Westminster free pass.

As we know, the Air Carrier Access Act requires businesses to permit emotional support animals to accompany their owners in any and every situation. Admittedly, a trip to the dentist would be lots more appealing if we could all bring our dogs along. Of course, most of us don’t actually need this psychological vanguard. However, the fact is that it’s way too easy to get away with using an undiagnosed malady to gain access to the cabin for a dog, cat, pig, etc. A Google search of “emotional support animal” generates several pages of mail order certification kits ranging in price from $0 to $139 for the deluxe gear. The online certification process takes minutes, including the required note from a licensed therapist that covers a wide, vaguely defined range of conditions such as depression, anxiety, and mood disorders that justify the need for the company of an emotional support animal.

This status automatically exempts your designated animal from any and all travel fees which has led to rampant abuse of this legal loophole and created a virtual zoological free-for-all in the skies. Explaining the crackdown, Delta cited the 150 percent increase in passengers utilizing this allowance along with an 84 percent increase in animal-related airborne incidents within the past year!

Barking, biting, peeing, and fighting is occurring in the not-so-friendly skies, and even though the so-called certification guarantees that the animal is trained, this seems to be a variable aspect of the actual situation. In way too many cases, owners simply cannot or will not control their dogs, which is precisely why they are banned from so many places in the first place. However, dogs are just part of the problem.

In an industry statement in a recent Wall Street Journal, Delta noted that passengers have utilized this allowance to fly with everything from ducks and turkeys to pigs and possums. But that’s a side issue. Mainly “Ignoring the true intent of the existing rules governing the transport of service and support animals can be a disservice to customers who have real and documented needs.” Of the approximately 250,000 animals that fly Delta annually within this context, the airline estimates that “Less than a third are true service animals.”

The new, stringent policy will not eliminate fare dodgers but it does demand more rigorous proof of the animal’s health, training, and professional documentation to confirm the passenger’s condition, all of which must be submitted for airline approval at least 48 hours before the scheduled flight.

All things considered, this crackdown was inevitable and predictable, and other major carriers are likely to follow suit.

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Posted by admin on Jan 22 2018. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.