DELTA AIR LINES PLACES MORE RESTRICTIONS ON SERVICE AND EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS
January 11, 2019
Effective December 18, 2018, Delta is prohibiting service and emotional support animals (ESAs) under four months of age on any flight due to rabies vaccination requirements. Additionally, the airline is banning ESAs on flights longer than eight hours. If a passenger purchased their ticket prior to December 18, 2018 and requested to travel with an ESA, the passenger will be permitted to travel as originally ticketed. However, if a passenger’s originating travel is on or after February 1, 2019, emotional support animals will not be accepted on flights longer than eight hours regardless of the booking date.
Delta has one of the most restrictive service and emotional support animal policies in the U.S. These recent changes appear to be partly intended to address the issue of animal waste during long flights. According to the airline, incidents involving service and support animals—included urination, defecation, and biting—increased 84% from 2016 to 2017.
According to DOT rules, carriers must generally transport ESAs on flights longer than eight hours but “may, as a condition of permitting a service animal to travel in the cabin, require the passenger using the service animal to provide documentation that the animal will not need to relieve itself on the flight or that the animal can relieve itself in a way that does not create a health or sanitation issue on the flight.” (14 C.F.R. 382.117)
As a reminder, on May 23, 2018, DOT published an Interim Statement of Enforcement Priorities Regarding Service Animals, which detailed the agency’s current standards for how carriers can address ESAs:
- If passengers are traveling with an ESA, carriers may require proof of vaccination, training and/or behavior, in addition to a letter from a licensed medical/mental health professional.
- Carriers may require electronic submission of the ESA documentation through the carrier’s website (or email) 48 hours in advance of their trip, so the carrier may review the documentation before the flight. In the event the documentation is not satisfactory, the carrier may require that the passenger pay a pet fee to transport the animal.
- Carriers may impose restrictions on movement of ESAs in cabin area.
- Carriers may exclude animals that are too large or heavy to be accommodated in the cabin, pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others, or may cause a significant disruption of cabin service.
- Carriers may limit passengers to one ESA.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Alexander Matthews (amatthews@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6633).
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