JonNYC

Sent you a PM as well.

For the record, I am FIRMLY on the VERY skeptical of all these comfort animals we're seeing on board, etc, so, my built-in bias is usually automatically pro-pax-who-doesn't-want-to-sit-next-to-a-dog

SamOF

I definitely see your point here, but what bugs me about the incident is not the applause, it's the near automatic reaction of removing here from the plane.

Was she just venting? Was she allergic to dogs in a way that would cause a serious medical issue? Or would she just be extremely unhappy for the entire flight? Would she be willing to sit in coach if that's what it took to get away from the dog? Were there seats in First that could have accomodated her?

So while I agree with you descriptively, I don't think we should be happy about a world where a throw-away comment could "seal her fate" without any further application of common sense or critical thinking.*

Taking 1.5 minutes to ask those questions is not an unreasonable expectation.

*It's entirely possible that common sense and critical thinking could have still led to her being kicked off in this case. It just sounds like that didn't happen.

Gig103

I'm confused about the "due no compensation" line... Does that mean they didn't re-route her? Or didn't give her any food/lodging until the replacement flight?

The smallest state

I'm pretty sure there is more to this. AA staff wouldn't applaud unless she was being a royal pain in the neck. The part that is bizarre to me is she books a lie flat seat, then when they try to reseat her in the back...........there is a dog beside that seat too.

I don't want to encourage people because my emotional support is a shot of vodka, a deep breath and little more, but, google can easily find you a Doctor (ok a quack) who will write you a prescription for your pet to be an emotional support dog. All you need is the cert and find a little vest.

Unless the animal/owner is being threatened I have never seen a service dog leap at someone.

swingaling

My step-sister brings her dog on the plane as an "emotional support animal". It's complete BS, but she got a doctor friend to give her a note. Her dog is a 4lb Yorkie, so it's not really going to inconvenience anyone. But still. It's a bit ridiculous.

rickg523

Whether the emotional support need is real or not, if the animal is not trained, it should not ride in the passenger cabin.
But I think we're going to have to see a pit bull attack - maybe on a child - before this gets fixed. And even then, there will be people squealing like stuck pigs about discrimination of some kind.

flyalways

I agree with most of the posters here that this "emotional support animal"
provision is being abused. This lady deserves applause for raising the
issue. I would not have said anything about diversion etc. but would have
been firm about the seat change.

The other day I saw a young couple with one of these dogs on board. Why do
they need a support animal when they have each other ? That is a sad
state of affairs when people in relationships need an animal for
emotional support :-)

F.A.

OskiBear

Isn't it common now to remove passengers who have a nut allergy? It seems that they don't want to have "make an emergency" stop mid-flight. I seem to recall reading that passengers have sometimes not been bringing that to light to not get removed from the flight.

That said, I love animals but don't want one jumping on me for the duration of a flight.

apeortdz

Agree. I have a friend who has the ESA and it is no less than partial BS. It's just a way of saving $100 or whatever the fee is now.

The smallest state

This'll work fine until some lunatic or comedian with camera crew in tow shows up with his/her "emotional support Bengal tiger" or something.

Then the wheels are coming off of the wagon.

24left

This was obviously meant as humorous and was a particular brilliant bit from WS, but I'm telling you, we're headed this way unless this nonsense stops. (Note the date on this video.)

Enjoy this and have a great weekend.
.

COU

I was recently on a flight in which the woman in 7B brought a large pig on board. I was in 8A...no way I would have sat in 7A next to a frickin' pig.

ijgordon

Hmm, this is borderline infuriating. We obviously weren't there to see exactly how it played out, but why not remove the dogs? What's to say the next flight won't also have dogs that might trigger her allergies and require an unplanned stop? Are ESAs more important than people?

bhomburg

The 77w has a giant business class cabin. Proper separation would have been possible without anyone having to get kicked off. In my experience, AA crew are pretty good at this.
I do travel with a (large) service dog, and encountered passengers with allergies a few times. In all cases, AA crew were taking things seriously and worked to find amicable solutions that left everyone (more or less) happy.
One time the passenger behind us in the 8-seat F cabin was severely allergic, and since the cabin was far too small to ensure proper separation and he was already settled in, in PJs and all (I boarded last, they held the door open for us, as we were running through DFW coming from a late connection and the promised golf cart was nowhere to be seen) we retreated to row 12 or so back in business class. I did enjoy perfect service on this flight (including the F meal and cappucino), doggie had her own seat across the aisle, and I did get my SWU redeposited. No big deal.

I don't buy this story. While AA crew in my experience are huge dog lovers (really. Never, repeat:never 'enjoyed' the kind of 'grumpy granny' service that's so widely purported on this board) the alleged applause as she left the plane is super-unprofessional. There must be more to the story than is given us here.
And yes, a proper service animal does not jump on passengers.
Emotional support animals, however - different story. Those basically are pets with no training required, and they do misbehave frequently.

Nonetheless, if the jumping on fellow passengers really happened, the animal should have left the flight, period.

minnyfly

Sounds like the type of customer that's hard to please.

I'm tired of all the dogs though. I had three on my AA flight last week. None were a service dog.