Saken har vært fremme her på bloggen tidligere. Bildet som da var brukt var av en liten pony som sto foran bena til to pax. Sprø amerikanere. (Red.)
|
|
Alaska Airlines is the first
airline to ban emotional support animals
Alaska
Airlines is the first U.S. carrier to ban emotional support animals on its
flights following a Department of Transportation ruling that airlines will only
be required to transport service dogs.
Beginning Jan. 11, the airline will allow only service
dogs that are “specially trained” and will refuse transport to emotional support
animals.
The DOT
rule change came early this month following the agency’s decision to revise its
Air Carrier Access legislation because passengers have for years been requesting
airlines accept their “service” pigs, rabbits and peacocks. Until now, the
department had not defined what constituted a service animal, and all emotional
support animals were federally required to be permitted on planes.
In
2017, the trade group Airlines for America estimated that the number of
emotional support animals traveling on commercial flights increased to 751,000,
a sharp rise from the 481,000 seen the year before.
[Airlines will no longer be required to transport
emotional support animals]
“Following recent changes to U.S. Department of
Transportation’s (DOT) rules, Alaska Airlines will no longer accept emotional
support animals on its flights,” the airline said in a news release. “Alaska
will only transport service dogs, which are specially trained to perform tasks
for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability.”
On its
website, the airline states that size of all service dogs allowed onboard “must
not exceed the footprint or personal space of the guest’s seat or foot area
during the entire flight.” The service dog must also be leashed at all times, is
expected to “behave properly,” cannot occupy a seat or tray table and may not be
under four months old.
The
airline called the move a necessary step. “This regulatory change is welcome
news, as it will help us reduce disturbances onboard, while continuing to
accommodate our guests traveling with qualified service animals,” Ray Prentice,
director of customer advocacy at Alaska Airlines, said in the news
release.
“The
final rule announced today addresses concerns raised by individuals with
disabilities, airlines, flight attendants, airports, other aviation
transportation stakeholders and other members of the public, regarding service
animals on aircraft,” DOT officials said in a statement announcing the rule
change on Dec. 2.
Alaska
Airlines flights will accept passengers who booked travel before Jan. 11 to
bring an emotional support animal other than a dog only up until Mar. 1. The DOT
originally took up the ban on service animals in January 2019.
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar
Merk: Bare medlemmer av denne bloggen kan legge inn en kommentar.