Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

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Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby J » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:08 pm

One of my kid's high school friends is now a First Officer for Spirit Airlines (sorry). He had a comfort horse on one of his flights.


Your Emotional Support Duck Is Not Welcome in Seat 15C

Delta casts a skeptical eye on snakes, turkeys, possums and ducks in the cabin.

The day of the service duck and emotional support chicken on airlines may be drawing to a close.

Delta Air Lines Inc. said Friday it will more thoroughly vet passengers’ efforts to fly with all manner of unusual animals, which often board U.S. airlines under the guise of psychological or medical support.

“Customers have attempted to fly with comfort turkeys, gliding possums known as sugar gliders, snakes, spiders and more,” the airline said Friday in a news release. “Ignoring the true intent of existing rules governing the transport of service and support animals can be a disservice to customers who have real and documented needs.”

As of March 1, Delta customers traveling with a service or support animal must show proof of the animal’s health or vaccinations 48 hours before a flight. Besides the current letter signed by a doctor or licensed mental health worker—which can be easily obtained on the internet—those with psychiatric service or emotional support animals must sign a form to attest that the animal can behave.

“These measures are intended to help ensure that those customers traveling with a trained service or support animal will no longer be at risk of untrained pets attacking their working animal,” Delta said.

Delta flies about 700 service animals per day—a 150 percent increase since 2015. The Atlanta-based company said reported “animal incidents” have increased 84 percent since 2016, including on-board problems with urine, feces and aggressive behavior. In June, an Alabama man was taken to an Atlanta hospital with facial wounds after a dog lunged at him on a California-bound Delta 737. A police report said the dog was issued to a U.S. Marine for support.

The airline considers the matter a safety risk, Delta spokeswoman Ashton Morrow said. “There is a lack of regulation, and what we’re trying to do is put some more arms around the process and ensure we’re keeping safety top of mind,” she said.

For several years, flight attendants have been calling attention to the probable abuse of rules allowing service dogs and emotional support animals in aircraft cabins. In many cases, the animals aren’t confined and may amble about the cabin, creating safety concerns.

The Association of Flight Attendants said it “adamantly supports” Delta’s policy change, President Sara Nelson said, as “it appears there is growing abuse of the system. We are hearing a public outcry to stop the abuse.”

It isn’t clear what has spurred the increase in animals in recent years. In some cases, airlines have banned certain breeds of dog from cargo holds due to the stress those animals experience in flight. There has also been a proliferation of online screening sites to allow passengers to “diagnose” anxiety or other disorders and offer a document designating their pet as a support creature.

Delta’s Morrow said the airline will be interested to see the effect on service animal volume after the new policy is enacted.

Two Twitter Comments from the article
There were 2 emotional support dogs in business class. One lady took hers to the bathroom with her. She said it would cry if it couldn’t see her.

Sat next to a lady with a chihuahua who threw up on my seat before I even sat down, then proceeded to poop all over its owner, her seat, the wall, and unfortunately my sweater! Happy Holidays!


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ce-animals

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby elaw » Fri Jan 19, 2018 8:59 pm

I identify as a badger between 3 and 6 PM Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays and I find this very offensive. :mrgreen:
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby 3WE » Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:42 pm

DAMN- I am forced to be serious here...

So, you wanna take your dog on a flight...The cargo hold is not a particularly good place for him...Don't think a Dog-section on the plane is going to work either...1) The back is where the serf passengers use the Lav, the front is where you get free alchobeverages and a hot meal and your own lav......plus you put the dogs together, there's probably gonna be noise...

Bring back the 747 (with all of the length permutations) .put the dogs up top....maybe with some cargo?
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby Not_Karl » Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:25 am

What about monkey pilots?
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby elaw » Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:53 am

You're going in the wrong direction.

The airlines and safety/procedure Nazis want robots in the cockpit... not carbon-based life forms that are capable of using judgement and making independent decisions.
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby elaw » Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:55 am

The cargo hold is not a particularly good place for him...
Heh... good luck getting the airlines to admit that!
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby monchavo » Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:34 pm

My personal reflection is that this is some form of corporate responsibility bullshit that they were forced to do in the first place and this is simply a return to "normal operations" - most reasonable sane people do not want to share cabin space with an animal that is terrified/confused/tired/frustrated and about to shit/vomit/die.
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby J » Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:37 pm

Now UAL is Being Cruel


A woman tried to bring an emotional support peacock on a United flight — and it reveals a growing crisis for airlines

Excerpt:

The woman reportedly claimed that the peacock was an emotional support animal — which would allow the animal to fly for free. While the woman also offered to pay for the peacock's ticket, United would not let the animal onto the flight.

"This animal did not meet guidelines for a number of reasons, including its weight and size. We explained this to the customer on three separate occasions before she arrived at the airport," United said in a statement to Business Insider.

The airline also said that it requires passengers to "provide documentation from a medical professional and at least 48 hours advance notice" before bringing an emotional support animal onto a flight.

http://www.businessinsider.com/united-d ... ?r=UK&IR=T

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Gabriel
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby Gabriel » Wed Jan 31, 2018 5:52 am

I thought it was theonion.com

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby Not_Karl » Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:11 pm

Can I still fly with my comfort blue whale?
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby elaw » Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:27 pm

Only if it's in a tank made of transparent aluminum.
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby J » Wed Jan 31, 2018 5:01 pm

So now we see the woman was emotional support for the peacock (and probably to get attention for her art work).


The peacock, reportedly called Dexter, belongs to Brooklyn-based artist Ventiko, who documents its life on social media.

"I have never left the house without having at least one person react," Ventiko told a local culture website in 2017.

The artist, whose real name is not known, told Bedford and Bowery that the feathery giant "really changed my life in a positive way".

She originally bought Dexter and a peahen called Etta for an art installation. She later found them a new home from which Etta and her offspring disappeared.

The loss affected Dexter's behaviour and Ventiko came to his rescue after hearing that the bird was housed in a garage. Following a failed stint at an upstate New York farm, Ventiko finally decided to welcome Dexter into her Bushwick loft.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42880690

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby Rabbi O'Genius » Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:58 am

Airlines get tough on 'support pets'

.....United Airlines say requests have risen by 75% to 76,000 in a year......

.......From next month, Delta will also be stepping up efforts to "protect" its passengers, after an 84% increase in on-board animal "incidents".....

.......British Airways, meanwhile, says that it has had no increase in requests - because it doesn't allow passengers to bring any emotional support animals on board.
:idea: :clap: ;)


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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby winglets51 » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:04 am

I've seen this comfort animal stuff going on in my own family--dog goes to restaurants, etc., but is not trained as a comfort animal like a true service dog is trained. The animal may or may not be able to be controlled in the restaurant and certainly is not a "comfort" for anyone involved. But on public transportation, especially an aircraft, this is no comfort and no joke. If they're not trained for service, they shouldn't be there IMNSHO,

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby elaw » Mon Feb 26, 2018 8:56 pm

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby Rabbi O'Genius » Tue Feb 27, 2018 4:25 am

You may have missed this request from our favourite Monchavo

https://airdisaster.info/viewtopic.php? ... =25#p70844
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby elaw » Tue Feb 27, 2018 4:29 am

Gah... why can't we edit posts on this forum? :(

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby Ancient Mariner » Thu Mar 01, 2018 4:11 pm

Avoid US airlines, problem(s) solved. :roll:
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby flyboy2548m » Thu Mar 01, 2018 4:34 pm

Avoid US airlines, problem(s) solved. :roll:
Per
Try bringing a dog on an EK flight.
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby Ancient Mariner » Thu Mar 01, 2018 6:39 pm

Avoid US airlines, problem(s) solved. :roll:
Per
Try bringing a dog on an EK flight.
Why would I? By avoiding US airlines, I avoid pets onboard. Problem solved.
Don't like Dubai, hate their airport, but EK certainly is a great airline for economy pax. Can't fault them on anything. Not shabby in Business either.
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Miniature French Bulldog Did Died

Postby 3WE » Wed Mar 14, 2018 7:00 pm

...sad deal, but as I said there, dogs are not designed to ride airplanes, airplanes are not designed to handle dogs.

The comments that the correct, type specific procedure is "no dogs in the overhead bin" is irrelevant.
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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby J » Fri Oct 12, 2018 1:22 pm

I'd say charge this emotionally-compromised woman for the 2-hour delay. Can you imagine the law suits if the squirrel bit someone? I once saw a Boeing study that said a flight delay costs $10,000 per hour. (An in-flight shut down costs $500,000)

Woman kicked off flight over emotional support squirrel speaks out: 'You will not take my baby from me'

The woman who was escorted off her Frontier Airlines flight Tuesday after bringing her emotional support squirrel on board is speaking out against the airline.

Cindy Torok told FOX 8 News Wednesday that she called the airline ahead of time to get clearance and even made it through TSA with her 11-week-old squirrel, Daisy, before the airline forced her to leave the plane.

"They said, 'Either you walk off the plane or I'm going to arrest you for trespassing, and we will take that squirrel,'" Torok said. "I said, 'You're not taking my squirrel. Sorry, you're not. I refuse. You will not take my baby from me.'"

Torok said her daughter was reimbursed and Frontier gave her a voucher for another flight, but she still plans to seek legal counsel after the ordeal.

"I was treated very poorly. I was called a liar by one of the stewardesses," Torok said. "I'm going for blood. I'm going all the way. I'm contacting an attorney."

According to the Associated Press, Torok informed Frontier Airlines she was taking an "emotional support animal" on the flight when she made her reservation but did not say the animal was a squirrel.

Jonathan Freed, director of corporate communications at Frontier Airlines, said "rodents, including squirrels, are not allowed on Frontier flights."

The incident delayed the flight by approximately two hours, according to AP.

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby J » Fri Oct 12, 2018 1:49 pm

Here is a evening talk show host's interpretation of the emotional support squirrel woman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdvksR2bwHM

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby flyboy2548m » Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:06 pm

"I'm going for blood. I'm going all the way. I'm contacting an attorney."
TeeVee is available. As are Evanie and Brianie as expert witnesses.
"Lav sinks on 737 Max are too small"

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Re: Good For Delta - Crackdown on Comfort Animals

Postby elaw » Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:26 pm

Is her attorney a raccoon? :mrgreen:
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