Flying Dogs and Cats

Airlines are cracking down on travelers having emotional support and trained service animals without documentation. This announcement comes as several U.S. carriers are tightening policies on emotional-support animals.

Delta Airlines sparked a trend among airlines in March when it beefed up documentation requirements for passengers planning to travel with service or emotional-support animals. This past July, Delta stopped allowing pit bulls to fly as emotional-support animals. United Airlines is reviewing policies on future flights.

Beginning on September 17, Southwest will allow only dogs and cats to fly as emotional-support animals. Southwest Airlines will also limit customers to just one emotional-support animal and will require the animals to be either leashed or caged at all times.

American Airlines states animals must be able to fit at your feet, under your seat or in your lap (animals to be seated on lap must be smaller than a 2-year old child). For safety reasons, you won’t be able to sit in an exit row when traveling with your service or emotional/psychiatric support animal. Those people with snakes and birds as emotional support animals will have to find another way to fly.