In Brief: Veteran Lobbies Against American After ‘Lying’ Airline Mistreats Him & His Service Dog
Jesse Tabit February 23, 2015
A war veteran is accusing American Airlines of lying after the legacy carrier allegedly mistreated him and his service dog, Bella. Sgt. Kevin Crowell is trying to bring public awareness to his “horrible” encounter, which took place in May 2014.
Crowell claims he called the airline in advance to secure a roomier seat for him and Bella on their flight from Miami to Key West. When he arrived at the airport, though, an airline employee reportedly told him “pets” were not permitted onboard the aircraft. Crowell states he presented proper documentation proving that Bella was a service animal, but the proof was dismissed and he was asked to deplane shortly before takeoff.
In a response released last August, the airline said “American denies that at all times relevant to the complaint Mr. Crowell’s service dog was wearing a vest which read ‘Service Dog – Do Not Pet.’”
Crowell says American — which he alleges has yet to apologize to him — is lying, as Bella did in fact have her vest on.
For additional information on this story, visit First Coast News.
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Sorry, that should be 'enplanements' and not 'passenger-flights' per year. (One has in any case to pick a metric that reflects that many passengers fly more than once per year.) The point is still apt, the response suggested - to cease flying an airline over one complaint, is not reasonable.
"Good Reason not to Fly American, if the situation is true." As of 2013, when AA merged with US Airways, it flies about 190 million passenger-flights per year, if Wiki's stats are based on accurate data. You want 189,999,999 passenger-flights re-routed, if even only one person (not necessarily the only disabled vet flying AA by the way) complains. I think this is a tad disproportionate.
As a vet myself, I'm going to agree with ICECAT. IIRC, Miami/Key West is served by "commuter" a/c with restricted cabin space, and with a full load, there wouldn't be appropriately defined room under/in front of a pax seat. AA should have used a better rationale (and the "Service vest" requirement simply doesn't exist if other documentation is available). Before retirement, I was a "frequent flyer". In my last years, I witnessed all too many attempts to skirt the service animal issue, more non-vets than vets (but then, there area lot more non-vets than vets). It appeared that some physicians were writing prescriptions for service animals with the same disregard as they wrote scripts for opiates under the "You wantee, you gotee" doctrine". Besides, the rental car drive from MIA to Key West is one of those ground journeys far preferable to flying.
Good Reason not to Fly American, if the situation is true. How can any Airline justify treating a disabled Veteran this way. Almost thought to fly American to Houston this March, our son talked us into flying with United. There are a lot of Veterans who are represented by the Veterans organizations I would like to see the jump on the bandwagon, and investigate the complaint of Sgt. Kevin Crowell, to establish right or wrong.
American Airlines was acting within the law. Quoting AA's policy : American Airlines and American Eagle® accept service animals used by persons with disabilities at no charge. An animal may accompany a customer with a disability in the aircraft cabin, provided the animal can be accommodated without obstructing an aisle or other area used for emergency evacuations. If a service animal is disruptive or too large to fit under the seat or at the passenger's feet without encroaching on another passenger's space or protruding into the aisle, it will need to travel in a kennel (provided by the passenger) in the cargo hold. The kennel must meet IATA kennel and size requirements for the animal. Temperature restrictions apply to ensure the safety of the animal. Finally, the ADA only covers service animals as far as the terminal, not the plane. As a vet myself, I'm getting tired of today's vet's and their sense of entitlement.