Delta will ban emotional support animals on flights of eight
hours or longer. In addition, the airline will ban emotional support animals
younger than four months old on all flights.
The bans will apply to customers ticketed Dec. 18 and beyond
and will take effect for all customers, regardless of when they purchased
tickets, on Feb. 1.
The moves are the latest salvo in a crackdown on emotional
support animals. Delta says it saw an 84% increase in reported incidents
involving service and support animals between 2016 and 2017, including bites, urination
and defecation.
Early last month, Delta suffered embarrassment and was
forced to issue an apology and provide compensation after a passenger flying
from Atlanta to Miami sat in dog feces after he boarded the plane.
Airlines say that many passengers have abused emotional
support animal provisions in order to take pets with them on the plane without
having to pay the three-figure carry-on fee.
Emotional support animal advocates say the crackdown by
airlines ignores the genuine needs of passengers.
In a press release, Delta said the prohibition of support
animals on long-haul flights tracks with DOT guidelines.
The DOT Aviation Consumer Protection website states that "for
a flight that is scheduled for eight hours or longer, airlines may require
documentation stating that your animal will not need to relieve itself, or can
do so in a sanitary way."
The website makes no mention of outright bans of emotional
support animals on those flights.