David Diaz, Executive, Davenport Laroche

Several airlines have been in the news this year, connected with headlines about service animals as well as “emotional support” animals. Now, another airline has said “enough.” Following the lead set by American and JetBlue, Southwest Airlines has released statements about changes to its policies on service and emotional support animals on its aircraft.

The new policy, which goes into effect on September 17, restricts support animals to “only one cat or one dog,” which must be “in a carrier or on a leash” during the entire flight. In addition, those that wish to bring support animals must also have a letter from a doctor or licensed mental health professional stating the necessity of the support animal in question.

The policy clarification statement comes in response to a string of viral headlines that involved a menagerie of animals being labeled “support animals” by people trying to take them on flights. Southwest did not mention these animals in its statement, though it was certainly on the minds of most consumers learning of the change. What Southwest did say was, in part:

“Our updates are based on a careful review of the Department of Transportation's (DOT) recent enforcement guidance and feedback we received from our customers, employees and several advocacy groups and animal-related organizations… (We want to) give our customers clearer guidelines about the types of animals that can travel on our planes…”

Due to different legal requirements, the stipulations for trained service animals are more lenient than those regulating “emotional support animals.” Passengers with specially trained service animals must only offer “credible verbal assurance that the animal is a trained service animal…”

Fairly straightforward comments, but that wasn’t what consumers really wanted to know. Most were curious just how close Southwest would come to saying “peacock” in its statement. That was covered in this sentence: “For the health and safety of both our customers and employees, unusual or exotic animals will not be accepted…”

Based on previous decisions from other airlines, as well as consumer response, these guidelines may end up quickly becoming the de facto template for all airlines. No company wants to be associated with the next peacock headline, but all airlines want to be seen as sensitive to people who depend on service animals for their quality of life.

For that reason, the airlines have to walk a fine line and be very clear when differentiating between service animals and “common” emotional support animals. They have to set restrictions that will satisfy the majority of their customers without appearing cold or heartless toward those who feel they need the support offered by their furry friends.

Taken altogether, Southwest did a good job communicating this shift in policy while also offering clear and understandable reasoning and still not ostracizing those who may have an uncommon pet.