SoLittleTime

Thanks...prescribed by my mental health professional nine years ago...The term I used, "self appointed", was a poor choice of words....I chose the particular animal as MY animal....Again, the fact that I had a letter from her veterinarian and not from my psychiatrist was that I WAS TOLD by USAir to have documentation from HER doctor....see my previous post....Perhaps from now on I will also "record the conversation" with any important query to any organization or business "for quality assurance purposes" for future reference! Please know that I nor anyone I know would seriously go through all of this to save a few pennies and/or cheat the airlines!!!....enough...there are far more important problems with air travel today...

gemac

As it appears that the standard is a letter that is less than a year old from the mental health professional, to be safe I would suggest that you get such a letter once a year. Then, you should be on firm ground and able to avoid any reoccurence of this situation.

We here at Flyertalk know that every airline employee rarely knows all of that airlines' policies, so we tend to favor written documentation to verbal assurances. Since the letter should be relatively easy to get, just make sure you carry a current one with you for future flights.

skylady

Soitgoes has the proper quote.

cheepneezy

At $175 each way for an in-cabin pet on UA(and around $100 on other airlines), I have no problem believing that somebody is willing to try to save a few pennies.

skylady

Vets are not cheap.

mvoight

If somone wants the accomdation, they should have to document it in someway, otherwise people will just say the animal is an emotional support animal, which will just mess things up for the people who really need them. It's a bit like all of false the racist claims when something happens to someone who is a member of a minority group. Things like that hurt the real victims of racism.

Sam - DFW

then don't get an animal

sluggoaafa

The biggest problem that I have been seeing is that people who bring pets onboard, sometimes don't let the airline know that they are bringing on a pet. This can create a huge problem with the airline and/or other pax because someone may be allergic sitting near them and we don't have the documentation on the paperwork.

This is also a problem that I see sometimes with the Emotional Support Animals "ESA", that we don't have them listed on the paperwork, because it currently isn't a requirement to have them documented on the final paperwork. But still, if there is a pax that is highly allergic, then an ESA does happen to be on the flight, or sitting within 5-10 rows of that pax, then it again creates a problem. We now have to reseat the pax with the allergy.

The reason why I bring this up, people are starting to bring their pet are bypassing the system so they don't have to pay the pet fee. Some may not even know there is a policy about pets. There is a policy in place, in which I have already quoted elsewhere in this thread, that pax need to follow. They are only thinking of them, and not other people who may be sitting next to them with allergies.

I'll get the Final paperwork and will see that we have maybe 1 dog listed on the paperwork, then all of a sudden, as we are deplaning, about 3 or 4 dogs have their heads are sticking out of bags as pax are deplaning.

Having your pet documented with the airline while traveling could help avoiding a possible diversion because someone had an extreme allergic reaction because of an animal...please remember, I said an extreme reaction...

Now back to ESA's, I do feel that the airlines need to have them documented on the final paperwork so it will help us (the FAs) know that an animal is an Emotional Support Animal, which does mean a little different set of rules to us FAs, and it could reduce much frustration between the pax with the ESA and the FA.

Sam - DFW

you are extremely naive if you think that people don't know the policy. not only do they know the policy, they know and understand the enforcement (or lack of) relating to the policy. you said that you notice the animals when the pax are deplaning. any guess why you don't notice when the pax are boarding?

let me ask you a question. when you see people deplaning with animals that have not been processed properly, what do you do?

unless the airline has a policy that prevents this from happening, people will break the rules.

the airline should provide a tag for the carrier with date/flight number visible. people without proper tag should be removed and forced to pay full amount plus a steep penalty. ignorance of the rules is not excused for other (much more petty) infractions. as soon as people are told by their friends that it's a really bad idea to sneak animals on planes instead of being encouraged to do so, then it will be much less frequent.

tsa does not permit non-ticketed individuals beyond security. why not include tagged animals in this group. no non-tagged animals permitted beyond security. hopefully these guys know when someone has an animal.

of course, all of this is about animals in general and not so much about emotional support animals. sorry if i took this further away from the original topic.

sluggoaafa

um....yeah. No, there are LOTS of people that Do Not Know that there is a policy in place about bringing pets onboard.

What do I do? If I happen to see that there is a dog, I take the person to the Agent and let the agent handle the situation. That is what we are to do. Then they are then informed that there is a pet, and it goes into the permanent file.

Naive? no....the majority of the ones who have no clue are the college/High School kids who are bringing on their pets in their purses/small bags, because it is THE thing to do...without realizing that there is a policy for their little buffy.

Still, that leaves the ESA's out to pasture when during the flight, we encounter someone that has a pet in their lap and we tell them it must go back into it's kennel. Even if it's not on the paperwork, we have to inquire as to what the pet is. When we are told it's an ESA, then we're done. When it's just a pet, then we must inform the Ground Personnel upon arrival so the fees are received.

I do like your suggestion that it should be up to the TSA to verify the ticket/payment fee for the pet since they are the ones that see the pet come through security. It could just be a separate ticket that states either "Emotional Support Animal", "Service Animal", or "PET" that is traveling with family. Great idea!!!

kaceyellis

Yes... a CRO must be available.. however not midair. There would be one waiting upon landing. (or prior to departure of the flight).

ACAA: http://www.dotcr.ost.dot.gov/asp/airacc.asp

http://www.dotcr.ost.dot.gov/documents/acc/horizons.pdf

The Capt does have final say, however, as to who is and isnt on his aircraft, (countermanding even a CRO) with regards to safety of the aircraft. Therefore if the service animal is behaving in an unsafe manner, the Capt 'could' refuse transport.... and it would be the Flight Attendants who would advise the Capt that there was a problem.

As far as Service animals are concerned. The ACAA states on page 14 of the New Horizons link above
:
<< Carriers must permit dog guides or other service animals with appropriate identification to accompany an individual with a disability on a flight. Identification may include cards or other documentation, presence of a harness or markings on a harness, tags, or the credible verbal assurance of the passenger using the animal.>> (bolding is mine, words are the ACAA)
An emotional support animal is a service animal... regardless of the publics perception of 'need' for that animal.

gemac

Aren't you able to ask for the letter from the mental health professional documenting the ESA status of little fluffy? Without the documentation, fluffy becomes a pet and Ground Personnel gets notified.

Sam - DFW

can kids take animals to school?

can kids take animals into restaurants?

why would an airplane be any different?

are the kids traveling alone? if they are traveling with parents, then the parents would certainly know that animals would be subject to policy.

i teach high school math, and i think that you are giving their "ignorance" too much credit.

you may be right. that said, i would be very surprised if anyone really thought that there were no rules about bringing animals. they may claim ignorance, but ignorance without repercussions might not be ignorance at all.

of course they are going to claim ignorance - that's the number one response to any allegations of misconduct. "i didn't know."

here's a question - how many people (later claiming ignorance) bring animals on leashes onto planes. you said that the animals were hidden in bags. why hide the animals if they were truly ignorant?

thanks for complementing me on the idea, though. ^

SoLittleTime

Thank you for the two url addresses above...I now have enough information to spread the word with others who will be traveling with an emotional support animal...And, I am all for ANY simple and definitive solution that will inform the public, and the ticketing counter, and security, and gate attendant of the validity of an "ESA". I am taking up too many posts with my plight of Dec. 30, but if you will read my first post again, you will see that I had just boarded the plane, quietly taken my proper place in the bulkhead window seat which I had been assigned, had stowed the carrier in the compartment above, and had the dog quietly on her two foot blanket on the floor under me by the window. I also had two content passengers on my side of the plane and on my row. The passengers were still boarding when the attendant, only one, insisted after asking for and reading my paperwork, that I must deplane as this was not a service animal...No explanation would satisfy her..I tried to make a cell phone to someone to verify my claim, and she replied "I don't talk on cell phones"...It was embarrassing at best, dissupted the passengers behind me. And, the other attendants after I was "removed" from that seat (and I had gotten up and was getting out my carrier to pack and to leave the plane) and was seated (slammed) nine rows back and was allowed to fly, were very apologetic and very solicitous. I am aware that the captain has the final say, but there was so much going on that I don't know who made the final decision...Do you know, as an airline employee, whether I should have been offered a CRO conversation? Should I have asked for the CRO? (but at that time I didn't even know there was such a thing)...) Perhaps it was the CRO who came back to my final seat and said (LOUDLY)..."and if we have any trouble with you you will be met by the police at your destination"...I would like to report her behavior...Do you know How I would do that?..She needs a rules and attitude review..This will be my last post regarding this subject....thank you...

soitgoes

Airlines are permitted, under DOT regulations, to require more than verbal assurance for ALL emotional support animals, regardless of the credibility of the passenger (in contrast to other varieties of service animals).