Delta Air Lines bans emotional support animals
Delta Air Lines joined Alaska and American Airlines in announcing emotional support animals are no longer welcome in the cabin.
From Monday 11 January, the airline will no longer accept bookings for emotional support pets.
This follows new updated guidelines issued by the US Department of Transportation which becomes effective the same day.
Delta’s new policy still allows trained service dogs in the cabin for free with the correct documentation.
The airline requires specific documentation highlighting the service’s dog’s ‘health, training and behavior’ in advance under its amending terms of service.
Alaska Airlines and American will also implement their new policies on Monday with similar requirements.
The DOT revamped its policy after several high profile incidents involving untrained emotional support pets and their owners, often leading to major disruptions.
For several years owners have been accused of gaming the system.
There is past evidence of passengers being able to purchase bogus documents attesting to an animal’s status as a trained and healthy emotional support pet.
This is done to avoid hefty pet carriage charges.
"The DOT’s final rule enables airlines to put the safety of all employees and customers first, while protecting the rights of customers who need to travel with trained service animals," said Delta Senior Vice President of In-Flight Service, Allison Ausband.
Delta also removed its ban on pit bull type dog breeds as long as they have appropriate documentation.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US Editor
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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