American Airlines is facing criticism after a first class passenger says he was physically pinned in his bulkhead seat by a large “service dog” throughout his entire flight.
American Airlines Passenger Says 100-Pound Service Dog Blocked Foot Space For Whole Flight
The incident reportedly occurred after the plane was delayed on the tarmac, flying out of Houston. The passenger, approximately 6′7″ tall, says he paid for an upgrade to first class. But once onboard, that upgrade didn’t amount to much: a large service dog named Bear (he claims the dog was over 100 pounds) spent the entire flight occupying the passenger’s footwell space. The handler apologized once, but did nothing to move the dog, or adjust seating. The passenger says he didn’t push back further out of concern over challenging a claimed disability.
American Airlines’ service animal policy states fully-trained service animals may fly in the cabin at no extra charge, so long as they comply with requirements (e.g. they remain in handler’s space).
If an animal is too large to comply, options include:
- Reseating the handler
- Offer a different flight
- Requiring an extra seat to cover the animal’s footprint.
(The rules also allow airlines to treat emotional support animals differently, classifying them more like pets unless the owner claims they are psychiatric service animals)
> Read More: There’s A New Loophole To Allow Emotional Support Animals On Planes…
I deeply sympathize with the tall passenger’s discomfort. A service dog that cannot remain fully in its handler’s foot space for the duration of a flight does not meet the standard of proper training. American’s own policy is clear: the animal must fit within the handler’s space or else alternative arrangements should be made. What frustrates me is how inconsistently this rule is enforced. Airlines too often look the other way, failing to vet so-called service animals and allowing situations like this to occur. That’s not fair to the paying passenger whose space has been compromised, and it undermines the credibility of true service animals.
However, the man had also should have spoken up…while he should not have had to (because the handler should have been polite and the flight attendant should have noticed the problem), he was the last line of defense to safeguard his own space, and the fact that he failed to speak up makes me far less sorry for him…potentailly offending someone seems a far better altneraitve to me than having a 100-pound dog “pinning” your legs against yoour seat.
CONCLUSION
This case again raises questions about how “service dog” rules are enforced in premium cabins. If a passenger pays for first class, part of what is being sold is space…personal space, legroom, freedom from obstruction. American’s policies technically allow for recourse when a service animal oversteps its legal footprint, but enforcement seems spotty. As always, travelers are caught between sensitivity to disability rights and speaking up in their own self-defense. Getting this right will require consistent standards, training, and courage from airlines…and from passengers to speak up when space is infringed.
Image: @DallasBroncos/reddit // Hat Tip: View From The Wing
No dogs. No pets. No animals. Please.
As an asthmatic, I always dread someone with a dog will be seated in my vicinity. Their rights for whatever “service” they get from the animal should not overrule my right to breath…….
Same concern as JRG.
Exactly . The dog looks like a “pet” , not a registered official service dog . “Emotional support animals , aka pets” , do fake or no service .
Who cares? It does not matter at all. The hall monitors of the worlds need to get a damn life.
Bring your inhaler, bring antihistamines, immuno shots, prednisone – whatever you need to survive in a world that you share with other people who don’t share your affliction. You have agency – take care of yourself.
Same with the dogs, though? Like, if you can’t live without your dog, maybe you shouldn’t fly?
p.s. Use the same email (real or fake) and your message will be automatically approved.
Well, Matthew, with all due respect I don’t remember what fake email I used for the original comment(s). And I don’t own a dog.
Your argument, politely, is facile. By your logic, if you can’t live without inconveniencing others because of your allergies, maybe you shouldn’t fly either. I wouldn’t go that far, and neither should you with the dog folks.
In my experience, folks with asthma and allergies often make more fuss over their treatable conditions than most dog owners ever do over bringing their dogs along. And just as there are “fake” service/support dogs, fake allergy sufferers are legion.
So when the dog people caterwaul and yelp for constant accommodation the way allergy people do, then we’ll talk.
I just find it fascinating that you don’t see dogs on planes in Europe…only in the USA. What makes them different and how do people survive?
There may be some cultural elements at play, but I do know that European airlines only allow boarding with dogs certified by ADI or IGDF. US airlines can only ask two questions and require no paperwork beyond optional DOT forms.
1) KLM specifically “only recognise service dogs for physical disabilities” and won’t accept psychiatric service dogs on internal European flights
2) Spain only recognizes four specific categories of assistance dogs and “Assistance dogs for psychiatric disabilities are not recognized in any part of Spain at this time”
3) Self-trained dogs “cannot enter the Schengen Zone (most of the EU), but require professional training”
I’ve never underestimated the appetite for meticulous bureaucratic rule making from Brussels, so, there you go.
Actually being in FC or economy shouldn’t matter, your space is your space. I agree some of it is on him for not speaking up, hopefully he does now directly to AA. But then going to Reddit instead of speaking up isn’t a good look in my opinion either.
No clue if he is a frequent AA flyer or not but I’m confident he will be taken care of if he pushes his case. And with AA customer service, it never hurts to ask for an escalation if you aren’t happy with the first offer. You will almost always get more miles by doing this however I don’t recommend it for every little inconvenience because of the risk of being noted as a “problem customer”.
And I still put the overall blame at 40-40-20 with the FA getting the least. Even if they were on their phone much of the time, which is very probable.
The inconvenienced FC passenger , the FA , and the boarding agent all did not speak-up because :
(1) they are introverts ,
(2) who are afraid of the vicious , disease-carrying dog , and
(3) who are afraid of the litigious , emotionally-challenged dog-lover .
LOL vicious. Facts are :
1) There’s no sign of that
2) The dog looks bored
3) The rest of us are bored by your weird Cujo fanfic
The dog appears unhappy and ashamed. I would hope the owner would take the clue from their pet.
Don’t hold your breath… It’s obvious in this case how insensitive, self-centered & entitled this pax is ! I have no empathy for these type of people, disability or not …
The passengers are the worst when it comes to scam security dogs. The pets start to appear more intelligent than the owners.
Well, the rest of us have no empathy for your carping and whining over a minor inconvenience that isn’t even your own. Buy a PSL, take a walk have a whiskey drink, whatever you gotta do to get over it.
You’re likely engaging in transference, and the feelings of unhappiness and shame are your own. And rightly so.
My sense says aren’t familiar with dogs. They have expressions and mannerisms that indicate their current emotions. These are clear to those familiar with animals.
Oh I forgot, signed Schatzi, beetle, bear, Morgan & jen , Camp, Daniel, gopher, cairn, Big Bear, Rox, and Dust.
Fun assumption, Maryland. Also incorrect. I grew up on a farm and we had plenty of dogs around between us and the neighbors. Dogs don’t feel shame. The “shame” body language is a submissive response when a dog perceives that they may receive an adverse action of some kind. They learn this the same way Pavlov’s dogs learnt that a bell means food.
Also, this dog looks bored. Probably not his or her favorite spot to be in.
Have farms. Some of the dogs are hunting trial competitors . You need to read animals. I am sorry you do not understand that.
I am appalled by the article and the comments. First by the use of quotation marks surrounding the word service. Service animals receive extensive and expensive training, in order to help people with disabilities with tasks they cannot accomplish on their own. They help with many different types of disabilities, some of which are not visible. Putting quotes around the word service demeans, and minimizes disabilities, and those who live with them.
Second, if there is a situation where a service animal’s presence is causing you harm, and you remain silent, you bear some responsibility. The disabled person may not have any idea their animal’s inconveniencing you, and neither the animal, nor the disabled person have telepathy.
Third, unlike with pets, or emotional support animals, service animals are required accommodations. Hotels, airbnb, rideshares, taxis, restaurants, and stores, MUST allow service animals, under federal law. All that is required is that the disabled person affirms that the animal is a service animal, and that it has been trained to perform specific tasks. They will be dogs in most cases, but could also be monkeys or minuratre horses. Not peacocks, snakes, guinea pigs, etc.
Finally, your allergies are not the responsibility of the disabled person. They are responsible for managing their own well-being, which is why they have a service animal in the first place. If you have debilitating allergies, you should certainly be aware that when you leave your home, you will be in the presence of allergens. Anaphlaxis from dogs is rare, but does exist, and if this happens to you, it is your responsibility to be prepared for exposure to dogs, the same way it is the responsibility of a sight impared person, to not walk through city streets without being prepared by knowing the area, using a cane, or a guide dog.
The privilege and callousness of the author, and the commentary is disgusting.
Are you aware the certification process to get up to two service dogs on a plane at no cost requires no licensing and no paperwork other than a signed attestation?
But that doesn’t mean a service animal (legit or not) can or should encroacb on someone else’s personal space.
Oh the humanity! Quick – dial up the Hague to bring charges! Is nothing sacred?
No need to be a drama queen about it. But personal space should always be respected.
I concur that there is no need for these folks to be drama queens. And yet all those drama queens are whinging and wailing about determining if a dog really is a service dog, or their personal space, or what they paid for – and they need to get over themselves
just charge the dog full fare J
Problem solved
Dog gets his seat and a meal, nobody else is inconvenienced
I’m not even sure the dog would want to eat one of AA’s domestic meals.
He would not.
In a perfect world, if AA doesn’t refund a reasonable amount for his ticket, he would file a consumer fraud lawsuit…
It’s absurd to think a F/A would proactively handle this situation given the dismal state of affairs these days of so called ‘customer service’…
Sooner or later there’s going to be an unfortunate altercation between an unhappy pax & the offending ‘service animal’. in which case I would hope the animal’s owner would be charged with animal abuse….
Or he could just take it on the chin and get over it and move on with his life.
The only “disability” this dog dude has is being a narcissistic asshole. Unless people start challenging these clowns they’ll just keep taking the piss out of everyone with their ridiculous stunts. Surely disability advocacy groups must have something to say about these charlatans ruining things for the genuinely disabled?
Settle down, stop whining and be a man, Pete.
I am a man. I challenge assholes and their behaviour. It seems like the rest of you just put up with it, say nothing, and then bitch about it on the Internet. That solves nothing.
Couldn’t help but notice the plural (“assholes”) in your comment, and if you’re running into multiple assholes, consider the immortal words of Raylan Givens:
“You run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. You run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole.”
This guy and the rest of you need to haul yourselves down off your crosses and nut up for the excruciating ordeal of having to take a short flight with a canine impeding on your personal space. Getting lathered up about these slight inconveniences is petty and lame, and that’s before you factor in that you know nothing about the other person’s circumstances.
Recent flight I was on, a lady took over the center drink platform, slowly (and probably unknowingly) nudged her backpack over into my footpace, and talked my ear off the entire time. On deplaning she quietly confessed that she rarely traveled and was going to bury her mother.
We don’t know what other people are going through. Maybe if we focused less on ourselves and more on our fellow humans, we could collectively pull our heads our of our asses and allow for the fact that sometimes we can show a little grace and not get everything we want all the damn time.
You show no grace, or wisdom. People trump animals pure and simple. Accept that and I hope you will find happiness.
You show little discernment, reading comprehension or wisdom yourself. As for grace, well, you’ve demonstrated you lack it with your comment that, “people trump animals pure and simple”
1) People are animals
2) Accepting your division, people do not trump animals, mathematically or morally.Humans make up roughly 34% of the world’s mammalian biomass. Livestock for feeding humans, 57%. Pets, 2%. Wild mammals 4%, and other domesticated animals 3%.
Despite being only 34% of the world’s mammalian biomass, humans have had such a profoundly devastating effect on our planet that many academics are now calling our time the Anthropocene era. It is an era in which mankind subjugates the natural world and recklessly tears through its resources with reckless abandon. Animals have never had such destructive impact.
3) Animals trump people pure and simple. Accept that and I hope you will find happiness.
I said people trump animals. I figured you missed understanding all animals are not human. If you actually grew up on a farm you should have a better grasp on that concept.
Maryland, you missed the point entirely. I didn’t say animals are human – I said humans are animals, which is basic biology. If you actually grew up on a farm, you were almost certainly kicked in the head by a horse.
Animals trump people pure and simple. Accept that and I hope you will find happiness.
I was thinking about not bothering to comment here since the issue appears to (mostly) be on the passenger for not speaking up, but I’ll defend the entitled here:
First class costs a lot more for the exclusivity. They paid to be spoiled so I think they deserve to get what they paid for. Otherwise, he may as well fly in coach.
I’m pay more for a cabin with no whiners. You want a cabin perfectly tailored to your specifications and have your little cocoon of privacy? Buy a jet.
Also, no one is “spoiled” on domestic first class. Domestic first class just buys you basic sustenance and decent cutlery.
Bark Air.
When I read this story, all I heard was “something bad happened on the flight, and I didn’t say anything about it, but now I’m complaining.” Surely it would have been possible to craft a polite request that the passenger please try and keep their service animal in their own space. Now that the flight is over, what is the point? Maybe the handler didn’t realize this was an issue, and since no one was complaining, why would the FAs intervene?
There are far more egregious service animal stories out there. At least this is a breed that is often used as a service animal, so chances s/he was genuine.