Transportation: Service Animals

Regulations (Air Carrier Access Act):

14 C.F.R. § 382.55 - Miscellaneous provisions

(a) Carriers shall permit dogs and other service animals used by handicapped persons to accompany the persons on a flight.

(1) Carriers shall accept as evidence that an animal is a service animal identification cards, other written documentation, presence of harnesses or markings on harnesses, tags, or the credible verbal assurances of the qualified individual with a disability using the animal.

(2) Carriers shall permit a service animal to accompany a qualified individual with a disability in any seat in which the person sits, unless the animal obstructs an aisle or other area that must remain unobstructed in order to facilitate an emergency evacuation.

(3) In the event that special information concerning the transportation of animals outside the continental United States is either required to be or is provided by the carrier, the information shall be provided to all passengers traveling with animals outside the continental United States with the carrier, including those traveling with service animals.

(b) Carriers shall not require qualified individuals with a disability to sit on blankets.

(c) Carriers shall not restrict the movements of handicapped persons in terminals or require them to remain in a holding area or other location in order to be provided transportation, to receive assistance, or for other purposes, or otherwise mandate separate treatment for handicapped persons, except as permitted or required in this part.

14 C.F.R. § 382.37(c) - Seat assignments

If a service animal cannot be accommodated at the seat location of the qualified individual with a disability whom the animal is accompanying (see Sec. 382.55(a)(2)), the carrier shall offer the passenger the opportunity to move with the animal to a seat location, if present on the aircraft, where the animal can be accommodated, as an alternative to requiring that the animal travel with checked baggage.

14 C.F.R. § 382.38(a)(3) - Seat accommodations

For an individual traveling with a service animal, the carrier shall provide, as the individual requests, either a bulkhead seat or a seat other than a bulkhead seat.