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American refuses to fly service animal
Gulfport, Miss. An Army veteran who suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome says in a federal lawsuit that American Airlines agents subjected her to two days of humiliation and stress when she tried to fly home from Kansas with her service dog, a Labrador retriever named Jake. (www.miamiherald.com) المزيد...
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Not enough info, aircraft type involved, what was actually entered into her PNR by American and does the ADA policy apply to all situations in all aircraft. Personally, I think service animals are necessary but accident waivers should be signed to prevent unnecessary lawsuits. ie: loose animal objects I remember a lawsuit by a pax resulting from an equipment change, electric wheelchair would fit in a A319 but not a Dash 8 and the airline offered ground transport or then wait for another flight and even another airline with bigger equipment........all declined for a lawsuit. The traveling public ADA or not must inquire about all aircraft equipment to destination...not just the outbound fight and get a letter from the airline, solves most problems.
In this case, AA was at fault..it was the return flight...they knew she had a service animal, the size and the criteria met..it was up to them to provide her with best possible return flight home...the ADA policy applies to all service animals in all situations but the ACAA takes care of lt when it pertains to commercial airlines and has the same non discrimination policies in place. " If the dog has been trained to sense that an anxiety attack is about to happen and take a specific action to help avoid the attack or lessen its impact, that would qualify as a service animal."
The ADA really doesn't have anything to do with this issue.
However, its extension to the commercial airlines do: The Air Carrier Access Act, and it does apply to all situations in all aircraft. It does explicitly state that service animals are to be flown in the cabin of the aircraft, preferably in the forward section. My wife has a guide dog and we always keep a copy of that act on us in case people try to call us out on not being able to have her dog with us.
However, its extension to the commercial airlines do: The Air Carrier Access Act, and it does apply to all situations in all aircraft. It does explicitly state that service animals are to be flown in the cabin of the aircraft, preferably in the forward section. My wife has a guide dog and we always keep a copy of that act on us in case people try to call us out on not being able to have her dog with us.
Thx, but I'm trying to get my head around where in the cabin.....in the main aisle, under the seats but not restricting movement in and out of the seats, on the floor by the bulkhead where other pax are seated, in the galley underfoot, in front of the washrooms, just where is this large dog supposed to be? So let's start with the C402, PA31, B99, Twin Otter, all the way to the A380. All in Commercial service. I still believe if a passenger has special requirements that differentiate them from the rest of the travelling public, they must initiate all correspondence and permissions required to carry a service animal on that carrier's mainline or off line equipment as well as confirming letter of authority. Well, I guess I beat that one death.
Normally, it would be row 1 in the bulkhead, by the legs in front of the passenger. The airlines are supposed to accommodate for a service animal of that size in that row. That's what they always do with us, and we also have a yellow lab.
Where it gets tense is when they don't get the memo, still go off of assigned seating, and end up displacing someone who paid for the seat. We've also had that problem, in which one time the passenger was happy for it because the seat we would have had would be next to his friend on the flight, so that worked out. Another time, the passenger wasn't happy about it, and threatened to sue the airline for moving her and not putting our guide dog underneath the cabin with the luggage, or have the dog take the next flight by herself (it was last flight out for the day, out of DEN; so how was our dog going to leave the airport, catch a cab into town, book a hotel, sleep overnight, catch a cab back to the airport, check in, and get on a flight the following day?!!?!?)
Needless to say, that passenger was moved to another seat.
As for correspondence, when you purchase the ticket, at least directly from the airline's website, there is always a section there that asks if you need any other accommodation for a disability, and if so, explain what that disability is and what is further needed. That is how that works, and would encompass the ENTIRE TRIP, not just one leg of a flight.
Again, airlines are supposed to accommodate service animals of that size in the bulkhead section, in row 1. Actually, they aren't just "supposed to" accommodate. They are required by law to accommodate.
Where it gets tense is when they don't get the memo, still go off of assigned seating, and end up displacing someone who paid for the seat. We've also had that problem, in which one time the passenger was happy for it because the seat we would have had would be next to his friend on the flight, so that worked out. Another time, the passenger wasn't happy about it, and threatened to sue the airline for moving her and not putting our guide dog underneath the cabin with the luggage, or have the dog take the next flight by herself (it was last flight out for the day, out of DEN; so how was our dog going to leave the airport, catch a cab into town, book a hotel, sleep overnight, catch a cab back to the airport, check in, and get on a flight the following day?!!?!?)
Needless to say, that passenger was moved to another seat.
As for correspondence, when you purchase the ticket, at least directly from the airline's website, there is always a section there that asks if you need any other accommodation for a disability, and if so, explain what that disability is and what is further needed. That is how that works, and would encompass the ENTIRE TRIP, not just one leg of a flight.
Again, airlines are supposed to accommodate service animals of that size in the bulkhead section, in row 1. Actually, they aren't just "supposed to" accommodate. They are required by law to accommodate.
Thanks Brad for the info. In the aircraft that I used to fly there were 362 pax and at least three bulkheads. I also understand about the requirement for accomodation by the airlines. Here is my take on this: You book as you have suggested, fully aware of service animals and that nice place at the bulkhead! Here's where it gets sticky, I have overheard many conversations that go something like this: " I never tell the airline cause they HAVE to accomodate me by law and cause I spring it on them at check in, guess what, I almost always get Business class. I was just wondering about the 19 pax turboprops and how they deal with it....wth no bulkhead? Anyway thanks again.
