Effective March 1, 2018, Enhanced Requirements Service/Support Animals
Jan 23, 2018, 7:58 am
#211
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: RDU, Delta GM/1MM, Hilton Diamond (for now), Bonvoy Titanium
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So, if I have never personally experienced it, it must not exist?
"When Marlin Jackson arrived at his row on a Delta flight from Atlanta to San Diego in June, the middle seat was already occupied by a man with a sizable dog on his lap. Jackson squeezed by them to his window seat, and the Labrador mix lunged at his face. The attack lasted about 30 seconds, according to Jackson’s attorney, and left him with facial wounds that required 28 stitches and scars that are still visible today.The mauling, which Delta said was inflicted by a canine identified as an “emotional support” animal, was among the thousands of incidents that just pushed the nation’s largest airline to tighten rules for passengers flying with service or comfort animals. In announcing the changes Friday, Delta said it flew 250,000 animals in those categories last year, up 150 percent from 2015, while “incidents” such as biting or defecating had nearly doubled since 2016."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.1528b7b45681
"When Marlin Jackson arrived at his row on a Delta flight from Atlanta to San Diego in June, the middle seat was already occupied by a man with a sizable dog on his lap. Jackson squeezed by them to his window seat, and the Labrador mix lunged at his face. The attack lasted about 30 seconds, according to Jackson’s attorney, and left him with facial wounds that required 28 stitches and scars that are still visible today.The mauling, which Delta said was inflicted by a canine identified as an “emotional support” animal, was among the thousands of incidents that just pushed the nation’s largest airline to tighten rules for passengers flying with service or comfort animals. In announcing the changes Friday, Delta said it flew 250,000 animals in those categories last year, up 150 percent from 2015, while “incidents” such as biting or defecating had nearly doubled since 2016."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.1528b7b45681
Jan 23, 2018, 8:44 am
#213
Join Date: Jun 2005
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The Washington Post has a good article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.9daf65672505
I was rather surprised by this tidbit, perhaps allergy sufferers do have some rights after all?
People with allergies to pet dander, who are also protected under federal disability laws, often think that their concerns are trumped by those of passengers with animals, said Sanaz Eftekhari of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which has started collecting stories from its members.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.9daf65672505
I was rather surprised by this tidbit, perhaps allergy sufferers do have some rights after all?
People with allergies to pet dander, who are also protected under federal disability laws, often think that their concerns are trumped by those of passengers with animals, said Sanaz Eftekhari of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which has started collecting stories from its members.
Jan 23, 2018, 10:06 am
#214
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,012
I still find it strange that "emotional support animals" are apparently given precedence over allergy sufferers, given the uniquely enclosed nature of an airplane cabin and the unavailability of immediate medical attention.
Jan 23, 2018, 10:34 am
#215
Join Date: Dec 2017
Programs: DL hub captive, AA
Posts: 21
The real villains are the people who abuse the system to bring fake service animals on board. They are the problem, not Delta. IMHO, organizations that provide support for people who need service animals should be screaming at Congress to get the laws revised so that people who bring fake service animals can be turned away at the gate and put on an at least a 5 year No Fly list.
It's pretty obvious that the people with fake service animals don't care about anybody else, other passengers, aircraft crew and those who have a real need for a real service animal. Shame on them!
It's pretty obvious that the people with fake service animals don't care about anybody else, other passengers, aircraft crew and those who have a real need for a real service animal. Shame on them!
A government registry could easily resolve so many issues. Making and enforcing federal laws about fake documents would also help deter people. I also think that ESA owners that want the right to take their dogs on public transportation should be required to have their dogs pass at least a basic version of the public access test that most service dog organizations use or else keep them kenneled. Untrained and uncontrolled dogs lunge at me and my service dog, endangering our safety. Thankfully this has never happened in the gate area, but if it did, I would definitely be having a conversation with the gate agent or red coat.
Jan 23, 2018, 10:34 am
#216
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
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For health reasons, I'm required to eat peanuts whenever I fly.
I hope that's not a problem for anyone.
I hope that's not a problem for anyone.
Jan 23, 2018, 11:17 am
#217
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Well you should know that "incidents" is totally vague and could basically be referring to anything. Like, someone sees a ESA, assumes it's "fake" and complains, that's an "incident".
So either this is being advanced as a totally irrelevant piece of data or it's being advanced disingenuously. I chose to interpret it more generously by assuming that the poster was arguing in good faith. If I read it the way you're suggesting then I have to assume he was arguing in bad faith.
So either this is being advanced as a totally irrelevant piece of data or it's being advanced disingenuously. I chose to interpret it more generously by assuming that the poster was arguing in good faith. If I read it the way you're suggesting then I have to assume he was arguing in bad faith.
Jan 23, 2018, 11:31 am
#218
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That is not what the cited DL-generated announcement says.
It clearly states that DL was motivated by thousands of incidents over an unspecified time period.
Something else that I don't believe... I don't believe that you could give the DL announcement a fair reading and legitimately come up with the gross misstatement of its content that you posted.
Please don't give folks here further reason to suspect your motivations/intentions.
That is a serious, well-intentioned request.
This should be a rationale, reasoned discussion.
Jan 23, 2018, 11:33 am
#219
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,012
Well you should know that "incidents" is totally vague and could basically be referring to anything. Like, someone sees a ESA, assumes it's "fake" and complains, that's an "incident".
So either this is being advanced as a totally irrelevant piece of data or it's being advanced disingenuously. I chose to interpret it more generously by assuming that the poster was arguing in good faith. If I read it the way you're suggesting then I have to assume he was arguing in bad faith.
So either this is being advanced as a totally irrelevant piece of data or it's being advanced disingenuously. I chose to interpret it more generously by assuming that the poster was arguing in good faith. If I read it the way you're suggesting then I have to assume he was arguing in bad faith.
Jan 23, 2018, 11:40 am
#220
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Jan 23, 2018, 11:43 am
#221
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It clearly states that DL was motivated by thousands of incidents over an unspecified time period.
Something else that I don't believe... I don't believe that you could give the DL announcement a fair reading and legitimately come up with the gross misstatement of its content that you posted.
Something else that I don't believe... I don't believe that you could give the DL announcement a fair reading and legitimately come up with the gross misstatement of its content that you posted.
How are we supposed to draw any meaning from it at all, then?
Jan 23, 2018, 12:37 pm
#222
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Those not in denial can draw the conclusion that DL management thought the problem was sufficiently severe to do something about it.
Jan 23, 2018, 12:47 pm
#223
Join Date: Aug 2012
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Jan 23, 2018, 12:47 pm
#224
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 189
My last set of flights, the very young couple in front of us had an "emotional support dog" that was pretty clearly not a true support dog. They kept passing it around to the people across the aisle, waving it in the air, and basically treating it like any normal pet was. There was even some discussion about how cute the dog was and that their parents had been fighting over who got to keep the dog over the vacation period. When queried the flight attendant said that it was allowed out of the cage, which means they were going with the support animal excuse. My wife and I are both somewhat allergic to dogs, and of course this was one of those types that we tend to find affect us pretty easily, so needless to say by the end of the flight we were both pretty well suffering from our allergies. (Add onto that, asthma and heading to a higher altitude, and that first day of getting acclimatized definitely wasn't particularly pleasant.) I have zero belief that it was anything other than a pet.
Earlier in the day on the bus from parking to the airport, we did also run into a service dog in training. Apparently the dogs first set of flights it was going to be experiencing, and even then, it was better behaved than the dog in the cabin with us. I recognize that there is a need for legit service dogs (and that those dogs need to experience this situation in training). I also recognize that there are people that have legit emotional issues that there are dogs that help with that. I'm not really sure what the best option is to try to respect someone's privacy and yet screen for whether they're abusing the system is, but right now, the bar is too low. (And I'm not overly convinced that these changes Delta is making really moves the bar at all.) I do think banning the exotic animals is an improvement though.
Earlier in the day on the bus from parking to the airport, we did also run into a service dog in training. Apparently the dogs first set of flights it was going to be experiencing, and even then, it was better behaved than the dog in the cabin with us. I recognize that there is a need for legit service dogs (and that those dogs need to experience this situation in training). I also recognize that there are people that have legit emotional issues that there are dogs that help with that. I'm not really sure what the best option is to try to respect someone's privacy and yet screen for whether they're abusing the system is, but right now, the bar is too low. (And I'm not overly convinced that these changes Delta is making really moves the bar at all.) I do think banning the exotic animals is an improvement though.