Balancing Access and Operational Concerns in Accommodating Passengers with Disabilities

There has been “phenomenal growth” relative to emotional support animals (ESAs) in cabins, said Rhonda Hamm Niebruegge, Director of Airports at St Louis Airport Authority, at this session on Monday morning. Growth to the tune of a 57% increase from 2016 to 2017. And this is one of the reasons why this topic, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), service dogs and ESAs have been getting a lot of coverage in the news press lately, explained Doug Mullen, Associate General Counsel, Airlines for America.

There are also safety issues. “It’s a challenge because an emotional support animal doesn’t have to be trained at all,” explained Mullen, which means there are 750,000 emotional support animals that are traveling through your airports that are untrained. And that is not sitting well with a lot of airports. “The most important thing for us is the safety and security of people traveling through the terminals,” said David N. Edwards Jr., President and CEO of the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District.  ESAs were defecating in the airport and exhibiting aggressive behaviors, such as biting. So, now they require that any non-service animals be in a cage or be held while in the terminals.

The airports in Canada are having similar problems. “One of the big issues we have is the fact that service animals have not skyrocketed but the ESAs have,” said Robert Sartor, President and CEO at YYC Calgary International. “Plus, fighting dogs at carousels and poop.” There’s just one word for that: “problematic.”

But until there is a standard established for this and parameters set, the path forward is a bit vague. And the surveys are disturbing. Disruptions are rampant and aggressive behaviors are not uncommon, as found by an American Airlines survey and another one geared to flight attendants. “There needs to be more of a nationwide approach as you can’t have different rules at different airports,” said Edwards. “It needs to be a federal approach so there are uniform regulations.”