Flying with an emotional support animal? This DOT guidance might help you

The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued clarifying guidance to airlines on how to handle service animals and the growing issue of emotional support animals. 

The guidance on species limitations, documentation requirements, containment, check-in and advance notice comes just weeks after an American Airlines flight attendant was bitten by an emotional support dog on a flight from Dallas to North Carolina, which prompted union calls to further tighten rules on in-flight animals.

"We need the (U.S.) Department of Transportation to take action now so events like the one that happened yesterday do not continue to occur on our planes,'' the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said in a July 23 release.

And DOT action has come — at least in the way of clarifying existing rules. Individual airlines will be required to review and adjust their policies in accordance with that guidance. 

DOT regulates the transportation of service animals under the Air Carrier Access Act and solicited comments from the public last year after disability advocates and airline industry groups raised concerns about regulations around the handling of service and support animals. The solicitation resulted in nearly 4,500 comments.

The new guidance Thursday seeks to clarify DOT's service animal rules from last year, and the agency intends to open up an additional comment period later this year to determine if the rules should be further modified. 

Highlights from DOT's clarifying guidance on emotional support animals

• Airlines cannot ban a specific breed or species of support animal, though they have some latitude to deny specific animals if they believe the animal could pose a threat. "Priority will be placed on ensuring that the most commonly recognized service animals (dogs, cats and miniature horses) are accepted for transport."
• Airlines can require animal owners to provide documentation related to the animal's vaccination, training or behavior to determine whether an animal poses a threat to the health or safety of others. They can also require documentation for flights over eight hours related to an animal's bathroom habits but cannot have outright bans on animals on long flights. 
• Airlines can require animals within the cabin to be tethered.
• Airlines can't require advance notice for those traveling with traditional service animals. 
• Airlines can require lobby check-in for emotional support animals. 
• Airlines can ask questions to determine a passenger's need for the animal, but must accept a medical form or letter that meets DOT's criteria as medical documentation of their need. 
• Airlines can't restrict passengers from traveling with more than one emotional support animal and also can't limit the total number of animals on any flight. 
• Airlines can deny animals that are too large or too heavy to be in the cabin and can prohibit animals younger than four months. 

Groups praise emotional support animal guidance 

"Today’s action by the Department of Transportation is an important step to address what has become a mess of animals loose in the aircraft cabin," Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson said in a statement. "Clear rules are necessary to ensure access to service animal assistance for people with disabilities and our veterans, while maintaining the safety, health and security of all passengers and crew onboard our planes."

Airlines have been tightening their policies in the wake of an increasing number of incidents involving in-flight animals and an overall increase in the number of pets brought on board. Passengers have tried to bring on a range of emotional support animals, including a peacock and a squirrel. American most recently revised its policies in March, limiting emotional support animals to cats and dogs and requiring a veterinary health form with vaccination details, its second revision in as many years.

In 2018, a child was bitten by an emotional support dog during boarding on a Southwest Airlines flight in Phoenix. In 2017, a 5-year-old girl was allegedly mauled by a pit bull in the gate area of an Alaska Airlines flight. The family sued the airline earlier this year. Also in 2017, an Alabama man was attacked by a veteran’s emotional support animal on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to San Diego. He sued the airline and the veteran earlier this year.

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the famed pilot who landed a US Airways jet on the Hudson River in 2009 after geese knocked out his engines, added his voice to the calls to regulate support animals on planes last month.

Sullenberger tweeted a USA TODAY story about the flight attendant who was bitten, adding: "Passengers too often bring aboard flights animals that should not be on an airplane. This must stop."

"The Department remains committed to ensuring that our air transportation system is safe and accessible for everyone," the DOT said in a press release announcing the guidance. 

Airlines for America, a trade group representing most of the largest carriers, issued a statement indicating the group "applauds" the DOT's guidance. 

“The availability of fraudulent (emotional support animal) credentials online has enabled people who are not truly in need of animal assistance to abuse the rules and evade airline policies regarding animals in the cabin," the group said, adding that it estimates over a million passengers brought support animals on flights last year. "The DOT’s guidance is an important step toward addressing this growing problem and ensuring a safer and healthier travel experience for all.”

The current rule states airlines are not required to accept emotional support animals  unless the passenger provides current documentation for their need. 

Contributing: Dawn Gilbertson