[NAGDU] Fwd: The Seeing Eye responds to Delta's new service animal policy

John Bauer knotblind at gmail.com
Tue Jan 23 12:44:35 UTC 2018


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: advocacy at seeingeye.org <advocacy at seeingeye.org>
Date: Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 6:01 AM
Subject: The Seeing Eye responds to Delta's new service animal policy
To: John Bauer <knotblind at gmail.com>


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Dear fellow Seeing Eye graduate,

Many of you have contacted The Seeing Eye with concerns about Delta's new
service animal policy. The new requirements, effective March 1, call for
disabled passengers to take several steps before they will be allowed to
fly with a service animal. These steps include uploading proof of rabies
and distemper vaccinations to the Delta web site on an annual basis, and
requiring passengers to report to the check-in counter for verification
each time they go to the airport.

The Seeing Eye recognizes that all airlines must establish practical and
reasonable policies as part of ongoing efforts to keep passengers safe.
However, we believe that Delta’s new service animal policy compromises the
rights of guide dog handler’s to fly free from discrimination.

In response to Delta’s new policy, and the likelihood that if left
unchallenged, other airlines will quickly adopt similar requirements, The
Seeing Eye has submitted the below complaint to the Aviation Consumer
Protection Division at the U.S. Department of Transportation:



   1. Passengers with guide dogs should be able to complete check-in
   online, at a kiosk or curbside, just like anyone else. Instead, Delta's new
   policy requires these passengers to "Visit the airport check-in counter",
   where the disabled passenger’s "request will be verified at the airport by
   a Delta Representative." This is an undue burden and a serious
   inconvenience for blind passengers -- especially when traveling with
   family, friends or business colleagues who prefer to check-in curbside or
   who have already secured advance boarding passes. This practice violates
   the disabled passenger’s right to choose what check-in process works best
   for his/her individual circumstances, and will likely force passengers to
   depend on Delta representatives or others for additional assistance that
   they might not otherwise require. Moreover, segregating blind passengers
   from their traveling companions or other non-disabled passengers simply to
   enforce compliance with a vaccination requirement that is already mandated
   by most state laws is degrading and cause for considerable humiliation,
   embarrassment, and loss of dignity.
   2. The 48-hour advance notice seems to preclude last minute or emergency
   travel if the trip is the passenger’s first flight of the renewal year.
   3. The policy fails to address what will happen when other airlines need
   to reschedule disabled passengers onto Delta flights if those passengers do
   not have the required documentation for their service animals.

Graduates who are concerned about this new policy are encouraged to submit
their own comments describing any negative impact on air travel on Delta by
completing the complaint form at:

https://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm
<http://support.seeingeye.org/site/R?i=JyjCx-ubRvSNHOHOanjJww>

If your only means of contacting the Division is by phone, you may leave a
message at (202) 366-2220.

To read more about Delta’s new service animal policy, visit:

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/
special-travel-needs/service-animals.html
<http://support.seeingeye.org/site/R?i=1nf9X058zaCDGnC4cOKN_Q>

Sincerely,



Ginger Bennett Kutsch
Advocacy Specialist
The Seeing Eye, Inc.
Morristown, New Jersey
(973) 539-4425
www.seeingeye.org
<http://support.seeingeye.org/site/R?i=2D_IVWYYF6eo_Rjdpl4OCA>
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The Seeing Eye
P.O. Box 375
Morristown, NJ 07960-0375

(973) 539-4425
info at seeingeye.org

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