Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
I went pretty far into this before, ESAs ARE considered service animals, although they have a few different requirements and the airlines have a little more power with them, they are included in the law as a subset of service animals. It's always referred to as ESA/PSA in the law. That's one of the big hangups currently, and yes, they are also supposed to be trained. The airlines can request records of their training to be sure they won't pose a threat to other people in the cabin, but the airlines tend to not train their people and enforce these rules much, passing it off to the cabin crew.
Go into the previous Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Final Rule comments on the current transportation service animal law, this is where the above information comes from.
This is how weak society has become, people need “emotional support” animals because they are too immature or uneducated to handle the stresses of life. This is what happens when you give everyone participation trophies and tell them they are all equal in outcome. I love my dog more than the next person but if you need an emotional support animal on a flight, you need some serious mental help.