[NAGDU] DoT Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights

[Al Elia]

Heather – you are correct, but the devil is in the details, as outlined in 14 C.F.R. § 382.77 (relevant excertps below). As you will see in reviewing it, it a service animal does not fit in the passenger’s footspace without encroaching on the footspace of another passenger, the airline is not required to re-seat anyone other than the person using the service animal unless it is to move someone into a bulkhead seat or other seat reserved for passengers with disabilities, so long as such bulkhead seats are in the same class of service. So, if a guide dog is too big to fit under the seat or within a blind passenger’s footspace (which is subjective given that there are no lines marking the footspace for each passenger, then the blind person must be moved. If there are no bulkhead or other seats in the same class of service (such as when flying regular coach on Alaska Air), and the flight is full so that there are no seats where the guide dog would not encroach on another passenger’s footspace (such as a seat with an empty seat next to it), then the airline may require the blind passenger to either take a later non -full flight or else have their guide dog travel in the cargo hold.

A Passenger who does not want to sit next to a person with a guide dog can thus claim not that they are offended by the presence of a guide dog, but that the guide dog is encroaching on their footspace. Proving the negative would be difficult or impossible for the blind passenger, especially if the airline staff is solicitous of the other passenger. Furthermore, once it has been determined, rightly or wrongly, that a guide dog encroaches on the footspace of other passengers on a full flight, the best that can be hoped for is that the airline asks other passengers to be reseated, and that some other passenger states that they don’t mind such encroachment. Basically we travel at the suffrance and charity of the airline, its staff, and other passengers.

I recognize that these circumstances may not occur frequently, and that we have yet to hear about such an occurrence. However, the regulations clearly permit it, and we must fight against such an allowance.

14 C.F.R. § 382.77 May carriers restrict the location and placement of service animals on aircraft?

(a) You must permit a service animal to accompany a passenger with a disability on the passenger's lap or in the passenger's foot space, unless this location and placement would: ...

(2) Encroach into another passenger's space.

(b) Before refusing to transport a large service animal that cannot be accommodated on the passenger's lap or in the passenger's foot space without encroaching into another passenger's space, you must offer the passenger the opportunity to move with the animal to another seat location within the same class of service, if available on the aircraft, where the animal can be accommodated. You are not required to reseat other passengers to accommodate a service animal except as required for designated priority seats in Subpart F.

(c) If there are no alternatives available to enable the passenger to travel with the service animal in the cabin of the scheduled flight, you must offer the passenger the opportunity to transport the service animal in the cargo hold free of charge or travel on a later flight to the extent there is space available on a later flight.
On 14 Jul 2022, at 16:26, Heather Bird wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I found this on the DoT's website.  I thought it would be a good read for
> everyone and it even has links to the relevant sections of the
> regulations.
>
> Of note, I found that (14 CFR): Sections 382.72 -382.80 seems to indicate
> that a Service Dog may NOT be removed from an aircraft just because someone
> "doesn't feel like sitting next to you".
>
> "You must allow a service animal to accompany a passenger with a
> disability. You must not deny transportation to a service animal based on
> the animal's breed or type or on the basis that its carriage may offend or
> annoy carrier personnel or persons traveling on the aircraft."
>
> Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights
> <https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/disabilitybillofrights?fbclid=IwAR0rUFGnprYCpLH5SbLNaHilARPBvXEyq5IsMkJlNPGa2rW7wrVYLO1Ofas>
>
> Heather