[nagdu] [NAGDU] You are required to sit in the bulkhead.

Ginger Kutsch GingerKutsch at yahoo.com
Sun Nov 25 22:15:11 UTC 2012


Hi Cindy,

You may want to consider filing a formal complaint against Southwest with
the Aviation Consumer Protection Division at: 
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/CP_DisabilityandDiscrimination.htm
There is a web form you can fill out plus you can attach a document if you
need more space than the form allows. I believe Dan Goldstein, the
representative that spoke at the NAGDU convention last summer about the
ACAA, urged everyone to report these types of incidents. 
  
According to a document published in 2009 by the DOT's Office of  Aviation
Enforcement and Proceedings called Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Concerning Air Travel of People with Disabilities Under the Amended Air
Carrier Access Act Regulations:

Section 382.81 - Seating Accommodations 
 24.	Can an airline require passengers with a disability accompanied by
service animals to sit in the bulkhead row?

Answer: No.  As stated in 382.81 (c), a passenger with a disability
traveling with a service animal must be provided, as the passenger requests,
either a bulkhead seat or a seat other than a bulkhead seat that would
accommodate the service animal subject to applicable safety regulations.  If
the passenger chooses a seat other than a bulkhead seat, the carrier is not
required to permit the passenger to specify a particular seat of his or her
choosing (e.g., "7C") that he or she would not be entitled to under the
carrier's normal seat-selection procedures, except to the extent necessary
to accommodate the animal as required by sections 382.117(b) and (c) of the
rule. 

25.	May a carrier exclude a passenger with a disability seeking to
travel with a service animal from his or her specific assigned seat or
require that passenger to sit in a particular seat in the cabin?  

Answer:  No, except to comply with FAA or applicable foreign government
safety regulations.  A service animal may be placed at the feet of a person
with a disability at any bulkhead seat or in any other seat as long as when
the animal is seated/placed/curled up on the floor, no part of the animal
extends into the main aisle(s) of the aircraft and the service animal is not
at an emergency exit row seat.  

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cindy Ray
Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2012 7:44 PM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: [nagdu] You are required to sit in the bulkhead.

I thought this was old news until I went to Houston Monday night. I flew on
Southwest Airlines. They have open seating. I got on early, but there were a
number of folks getting on then, so I elected the bulkhead row as requested.
Bear in mind that previously I had flown not less than four flights where
this was not an issue. When I boarded in Chicago, the crew member said that
I was required to sit in the bulkhead. I told him that I was not required to
sit there. (I wanted a tray table.) He said that I was, and I asked him why.
He responded that this was because of the dog. I told him that I had done a
lot of flying, and I knew for a fact that I was not required to sit there.
However, I was going to arrive in Houston late, so I decided to get with it.
I said I would, but I knew that I was not required to. The service agent
came on board and told me I was required to sit there. (I had now fastened
my seatbelt.) I said I was sitting there, but he would have to show me that
this was required, and he said I could find it on their web site. Then he
said that I was not to argue with a crew member and could be removed from
the flight if I persisted. I said that I was not arguing, I was just stating
that I am not required to sit there.

A little later, a woman came on board, and she verified that I was correct
in stating that I need not ride there, but their concern was that the dog
couldn't be made to fold small enough. Their seating areas aren't ample, but
I think it can be done. I would have been willing to try other seats to see
if we could work it out, but by then I was a little tired of the whole
thing.

Friday, I returned. When I boarded in Houston, armed with the knowledge that
I don't have to sit in the bulkhead, I began to head back farther in the
cabin. A crew member said that I was required to sit in the bulkhead with
the dog, and I said I wasn't required to do that, that just Monday a woman
at their airlines had agreed with me. But again, I did not want to hasslwe
with it too much, but I did want to sit elsewhere. He said he was going to
talk to his supervisor, and I suggested that he not bother with it. I put my
bag up above and sat in the required location. Chris came on board, and she
told me I was required to sit there. I said, fine, but I had done a lot of
flying and hadn't received this kind of treatment from an airlines in years.
She said that planes vary. Well, duyh. I told her just about the only place
he couldn't ride was the two and one planes where there is just one seat
down the aisle on the right as you go in. I don't even remember all she
said, but she said I needed to not be yelling at crew members. I said to her
that I had not been, and I hadn't. She it had been reported by other
passengers and passengers panic. I said I had not been, alhtough by then I
was tempted, and I told her I was so done with the topic right now and
pretty much done with Southwest. She told me I wasn't being cooperative. I'm
not sure where that came from because I was in the bulkhead with the
seatbelt fastened. I told her I really wouldn't mind being there, but I
really wanted to sit where I can have a tray table. Those planes don't have
any, not even in the arms of the seats. So she then said she was going to
talk with the captain. Nothing ever came of that, and I really felt that
intimidation tactics had been used. The rest of the flight was without
incident since I didn't have to change in Chicago to return to Des Moines.

The Southwest planes are small, as I said, and I suspect that really this is
the most comfortable place for my particular dog as he is rather large,
though not mamoth. Here is what I found at their web site concerning
bringing service dogs into the flight:

Trained Assistance Animals

Southwest Airlines welcomes trained assistance animals on all of our
flights. Except when too large to be safely accommodated, a trained
assistance animal traveling with and providing assistance to a Customer with
a disability will be accommodated in the aircraft cabin. In accordance with
federal safety regulations, the animal must be positioned so as not to
obstruct Customers' expeditious evacuation in the unlikely event of an
emergency.

Now, I get this, and if I had sat in another seat where it made it more than
inconvenient for the seats to be shared by other passengers, I would be glad
to consent to the bulkhead, but I believe it is not a requirement. 

Cindy Lou
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