If you are planning to fly to a new destination with your favorite pet then this newsmaker must draw your attention. Due to the growing incidents of misbehavior caused by pets and service animals onboard the planes many US airlines have tightened their policies on in-flight animals accompanied by their owners in the last six months.
According to consumerreports.org one passenger aboard a Delta Air Lines Inc plane was bitten by an emotional support / comfort dog that caused the airline to ban some breeds of dog altogether, there were also other incidents of travelers getting inconvenienced by animals such as peacocks, pot-bellied pigs and also a snake. All these resulted in most airlines adding more animals to their list of banned beasts.
This summer you must be prepared to adhere to the new pet policies that US airlines will be implementing to reduce the incidents of inconvenience caused by the so called service or emotional support / comfort animals, reports consumerreports.org. Believe it or not more than 1 million pets, mostly dogs and cats fly onboard the US flights with their owners every year without any incidents of misbehavior caused by them to the in-flight passengers.
According to consumerreports.org the US airlines will be flooded with more bookings this summer and an estimated 2.8 million passengers will be boarding the airplanes daily from June to August 2018, summer season. In case you are planning to fly with your pet this summer make sure you do an early flight booking as most airlines allow limited number of pets onboard their flights.
Here are the new rules to keep in mind before you travel with your favorite pet this summer.
Pet categories need to be taken into consideration for the new rules
Let’s classify the onboard pets into two types 1) Emotional support / comfort animals such as household animals (Dogs and cats) and 2) Service animals, pets which assist people with disabilities by way of providing assistance.
Pets under the emotional support / comfort animals mainly include common household pets like dogs and cats, according to the new rules a pet in this category is regarded as a carry on item and must be small enough to be placed under the seat in front of you. In the US the one-way fee for carrying such a pet onboard ranges from $75 to $125, depending on the airline. Check with the airline website for precise information.
Service animals which assist people with disabilities are allowed to fly free of cost under the local US law, however some airlines in the US require extra documentation that state that the passenger requires the support of such animals.
Generally each airline has its own set of rules when it comes to pets, for instance United allows rabbits and some birds in the passenger cabins apart from popular pet types (cats and dogs) and United has banned ferrets from its list of permitted pets onboard. Most airlines have also come across instances where some passengers passed of their pets as support animals just to escape from the pet carry-on fee. In the wake of this most airlines are allowing only dogs and cats in both the categories mentioned above (Support / comfort and service animals) to travel on-board.
New rules associated with cargo class and airport amenities
If your pet cannot fit under your front seat then it can be accommodated either in the front baggage hold or sometimes if it’s too big it must go into the airline cargo section and this service can be very expensive wherein you are charged by the weight and size of the pet.
The new rules require that the US airports must be equipped with a “pet-relief” area, usually one per terminal.
