# Most airlines won't accept emotional support animals, but some airlines are still allowing them **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553 "2021-01-14T23:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/41 "2021-01-15T23:15:53Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Nah, stuffing them into the bathroom trash should be sufficient and won’t depressurize the plane. Snatch them up, dash into the bathroom, lock the door, flash multiple times and then come out, dusting off your hands. Give the damn things back after the plane lands of course, having surreptitiously handed them off to a Flight Attendant. Seems a harsh way to treat kids, I would have just taken the toys away. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/42 "2021-01-15T23:19:12Z")
Yeah, what those parents SHOULD have done is say “Play quietly or Raichu and Charmander will spend the rest of the flight in the overhead compartment” and I’d have been more than satisfied. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/43 "2021-01-15T23:21:20Z")
I was joking that what you wrote could read as though you wanted to stuff the kids in the bathroom trash and return the damn things to the parents at the end of the flight. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/44 "2021-01-15T23:33:08Z")
I have no emotional support dog in this fight, but I’m curious how big a problem this actually is. Does anyone know 1. How often are emotional support animals taken on airplane flights? 2. How often do they cause problems or annoyances on those flights? 3. How many people need (in a loose sense) an emotional support animal with them when they fly? Personally, I’d think that bringing an animal with me on an airline flight would substantially _increase_ my stress, since I would have to worry about keeping it safe, what if it tries to run away, what if it needs food or water, what if it needs to go to the bathroom, etc, etc. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/45 "2021-01-15T23:47:59Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Seems a harsh way to treat kids, I would have just taken the toys away. At least I gave them back at the end of the flight. In my first mental iteration of the idea I did flush them. I reconsidered. My better nature got the best of me. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/46 "2021-01-15T23:59:27Z")
See post 43, I was kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/47 "2021-01-16T00:02:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I have no emotional support dog in this fight, but I’m curious how big a problem this actually is. Does anyone know > > 1. How often are emotional support animals taken on airplane flights? > 2. How often do they cause problems or annoyances on those flights? > 3. How many people need (in a loose sense) an emotional support animal with them when they fly? > **[Analysis | Flight attendant survey says 61 percent worked flights where...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2018/09/14/flight-attendant-survey-says-percent-worked-flights-where-companion-animal-caused-disturbance/)** > > The Association of Flight Attendants says a new survey of its membership suggests the problem with companion animals on flights is getting further out of hand. The group released the survey results as the U.S. Department of Transportation considers... ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/48 "2021-01-16T00:03:31Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > See post 43, I was kidding. Figured. Just took me a while. Slow as molasses in January I am. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/49 "2021-01-16T00:07:54Z")
Thank you. That’s helpful, even though it doesn’t directly answer any of my questions. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/50 "2021-01-16T00:20:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > That’s helpful, even though it doesn’t directly answer any of my questions. While you’re right in that the article (and the underlying survey) doesn’t have hard numbers on “how often are they brought on planes,” nor “how often do they cause problems”, what it does tell us is that three out of five flight U.S. flight attendance have experienced an incident with a problematic emotional support animal. That does strongly suggest two things: - Someone bringing an emotional support animal (or a pet which the passenger claims to be an ESA) onto a flight is not uncommon - Misbehaving or problematic animals in the passenger cabin is not the “rare occurrence” that @Portlandia believes it to be, and it isn’t “just a few” entitled assholes causing the problem ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/51 "2021-01-16T00:24:25Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > The worst fellow passenger on a plane was neither a baby nor a pet, but a pair of young boys, maybe 3 and 5. One had a Raichu stuffed animal, the other a stuffed Charmander (Pokémon for those unaware). The entire 4 hour flight the two kids squeeked the names of their Pokémon back and forth: “Raichu!” “Charmander!” “RAICHU!!!” “CHARMANDER!!!” > > Their horrible parents feebly whispered “shhh” every fifteen minutes or so, but made no other effort to silence their brats. I was just about ready to throw both Raichu and Charmander out the emergency exit. I had a similar experience a year and a half ago, only it was two young girls (probably around age 5 or 6), sitting in the row directly behind me, who were completely out of control. Climbing on the back of my seat, kicking the back of my seat, standing on their seat armrests, dancing in the aisle – all while the plane was going through some heavy turbulence, with the seat belt lights on, and the flight crew continually reminding the passengers to stay seated. The parents did nothing, other than hiss the girls’ names every few minutes. (Why the flight attendant did not directly address the parents, I have no idea.) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/52 "2021-01-16T00:53:55Z")
Anyone can go online and get a letter from a “doctor”. Also, there is little to no evidence that so-called ESAs actually do anything. [Emotional support animals: Are they real? What are they used for? - Insider](https://www.insider.com/emotional-support-animals-science-psychology-2018-3) ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/53 "2021-01-17T16:07:39Z")
The concept of emotional support animals is asinine. I fully support this ruling. The companionship a dog provides is not “emotional support”. If it were, then everyone’s pet is an ESA. Why does your pet travel for free, but mine does not? If there is an actual medical need for the animal, then it would be protected under the ADA. I would support a rule that allowed people to bring any well-behaved animal onto the plane–for free under a certain weight, and for the price of a ticket if larger. Give the dog its own seat. It’s silly to make them fly as cargo. But people abusing a system simply to more easily fly with their pets shouldn’t be tolerated. The system is obviously flawed. Update the system to more accurately reflect reality (people want to bring their pets on the plane), or get rid of it entirely. I fly with my dog often. I pay for this convenience. I often get told that I should “register the dog as an ESA” or something along those lines, so that I could fly with him for free. I refuse to lower myself to such nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/54 "2021-01-17T17:06:10Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > This is true, but not complete. For the \> 1 year we had guide dogs in training we did not train them in any way to support blind people. All the training we did was in socialization. Examples are relieving on command, not being distracted by other dogs, being able to sit under my desk while I worked, climbing stairs, going in elevators, not being spooked by loud noises, and plenty more. That’s the kind of stuff an ESA needs. It can be done with a good manual and a support group, and then testing when the training is complete. Shouldn’t be very expensive. I doubt this would be accepted since there is a significant chance that Poochie would fail. Training a dog to behave isn’t the same as training it to perform a specific task to assist someone with a disability. Unless a dog has been trained to perform a specific task (help someone keep their balance, act as their eyes, smell their sugar level, etc., etc.,) it cannot be classified as a service animal under current ADA criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/55 "2021-01-17T21:16:24Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Training a dog to behave isn’t the same as training it to perform a specific task to assist someone with a disability. Unless a dog has been trained to perform a specific task (help someone keep their balance, act as their eyes, smell their sugar level, etc., etc.,) it cannot be classified as a service animal under current ADA criteria. Which is only reasonable. However, guide dogs in training are allowed on flights, in restaurants, in supermarkets etc. My point was that the expensive part of training is the service part. The socialization part does not cost all that much. If ESAs had the socialization training there would be many fewer problems. I think that would be a reasonable compromise, though probably unacceptable to those who just want to take their pets along for free. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/56 "2021-01-17T22:25:42Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > If ESAs had the socialization training there would be many fewer problems. I think this is really the issue. When I worked at the food stamp office, it was very easy to tell the difference between the service dogs and the ESA pets. The service dogs didn’t eliminate on the floor, growl at other pets or customers or snap or bite, it was poorly trained pets that caused the problems. Of course, it was easier for the security guards to turf someone from an office than from a plane in mid-air, but it was still unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/57 "2021-01-18T00:32:47Z")
I’m way late, but the OP is lost in space as to the facts. Both the facts of what’s been happening in the industry, and what the new regs require and enable. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/58 "2021-01-19T03:23:38Z")
> [@Portlandia](#): > > The public realizing that [stowing an animal in the cargo of an airplane is dangerous](https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2018/03/16/official-reports-animal-deaths-airline-flights-focus-only-cargo/432343002/) You’ve cited an article specifically pointing out the danger to pets that are _taken on board as passengers_. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/59 "2021-01-19T19:07:55Z")
If you are so mentally incapacitated that you need an animal in order to fly in an airplane, then stay home. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553/60 "2021-01-20T00:20:15Z")
I need an emotional support animal after reading this thead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-airlines-wont-accept-emotional-support-animals-but-some-airlines-are-still-allowing-them/930553.md?page=4)