ugleeual

How’d you like to be sitting in that window seat?

tomgoodman

Old McDonnell-Douglas had a farm.....

https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/30/trave...ght/index.html

jcountry

Did he pass away as a result of injuries suffered as they dragged his ass down the aisle and knocked half his teeth out?

(We can do this the easy way, or the United Way!)

JamesNoBrakes

ESAs have never been required to be transported in the cabin.

Service animals are different, they "do something", perform a function, for the person. They are highly trained and so on. Regs say the airline must make accommodations for them. Still, within the DOT regulations, there are cut-outs for safety, that if safety requires, they do not have to be accommodated, such as they can't be secured (too large to fit under the seat in front). When it comes to animals, in the cabin, they are cargo and all cargo is required to be secured by regulation. It's also written that the airlines do not have to accommodate unusual requests, like pigs, chickens, etc.

This is likely just another situation where the gate agents are not trained/assertive and they pass the buck on to the flight/cabin crew that has to "deal" with the situation and for lack of creating a scene, they all "let things go" rather than taking a stand. With the right training, it shouldn't ever become an issue.

Viperstick

Will never forget being in the Islamabad Airport and seeing someone carrying a chicken under either arm. Over there, they’re considered NSAs—-nutritional support animals.

TransWorld

I remember the chickens in Central America. They were in cages but were put in the hat rack overhead on the DC-3s.

Andy

For those that choose to comment, I'd suggest that DOT have a 'certified' list of physicians who can approve ESAs and service animals. There are WAY too many scammer doctors out there who pump out letters for $35. Or, to make things easy, a blacklist of physicans whose certification letters are NOT accepted.

ItnStln

If your ESA honey badger slapped a cobra I now want an ESA honey badger. Where did you get yours?

Excargodog

IN fairness, some of these yahoos MIGHT let their critters be put down in the baggage compartment where they belong if some of you guys would just stop referring to the baggage compartment fire suppression switch as the "puppy snuffer."

ItnStln

That seems to be the trend in most customer facing positions.