UPDATE: Dec. 30, 2020, 10:59 a.m. PST After the U.S. Department of Transportation ruled earlier this month that emotional support animals are no longer considered service animals, some airlines are changing policies. Alaska Airlines was the first carrier to ban emotional support animals, starting in 2021.
This story was originally published in 2018, but has been updated to reflect airline rules as they stand as of Dec. 2020.
Emotional support animals are becoming common sights on airplanes. We've seen pigs fly, and miniature horses as doctor-sanctioned animal companions. Then peacocks get the shaft when it comes to comforting passengers on board. And an emotional support hamster was tragically flushed away when it was refused entry on a flight earlier this year.
That harrowing tale of a companion animal gone very, very wrong highlights the confusion and complications of flying with animals for medical reasons. Before you tote your furry friend to the airport, make sure to brush up on which animals airlines allow on planes.
To help you out, we've rounded up every major airline's emotional support animal policy.
SEE ALSO:Enormous emotional support peacock denied seat on flight, owner not pleasedFirst, though: It's important to distinguish an emotional support animal from a service animal. Unlike a guide dog for a blind person, an emotional support animal is there for people with emotional, psychiatric, or psychological needs. You can't just show up at the airport with a cat or dog and proclaim it to be your emotional support animal — official documentation from doctors, psychologists, and/or other mental health officials is required.
As more people attempt to fly with their support animals, airlines are getting more specific and detailed on what's allowed, and cracking down on which animals can fly uncrated and in the main cabin. Airlines have created fairly robust info pages as passengers attempt to fly with a wide range of animals, and Delta and United have both updated their requirements for flying with an emotional support animal. Both airlines have implemented the new procedures with more paperwork and oversight.
An increase in animals — and incidents
According to a company release in Jan. 2018, Delta "carries approximately 700 service or support animals daily — nearly 250,000 annually. " Since 2016, they said, the airline has had an 84 percent increase in incidents with animals on planes, such as peeing, pooping, and even biting.
United has a growing number of comfort animals onboard: 43,000 in 2016 and 76,000 in 2017, according to a spokesperson who spoke to USA Today.
A dog scraped a girl's face when she tried to pet the emotional support animal on a Southwest flight from Phoenix to Portland, Oregon, according to the Washington Post.
Some airlines clearly list which animals can join you on your flight, while others list what animals aren't allowed (like comfort turkeys). This huge dog, below, made the cut.
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Here's your emotional support animal guide for flying on major air carriers in and out of the U.S.
American Airlines
A doctor's letter is required in advance to bring your support animal with you. Also, a large dog like the one above literally won't fly. American requires animals to "fit on your lap, at your feet, or under the seat, and cannot block the aisle." For travelers headed to Auckland, New Zealand; Hong Kong; or St. Vincent and the Grenadines emotional support animals aren't allowed.
United
United has more robust rules in order to fly with an emotional support animal. More documentation is necessary — that's a letter from a doctor and a vet record, along with confirmation the animal will behave in public.
Animals are limited by size also as they must fit at passenger's feet and not "protrude" into the aisles or other areas.
Delta
After pet owners download and fill out the proper forms, certain animals can accompany travelers. Only animals who do not "exceed the footprint of the passenger's seat" can fly on board.
Delta says it can refuse to fly an animal that growls, jumps on passengers, relieves themselves on board or in waiting areas, barks excessively, or eats "off seat back tray tables."
Its full list includes:
Small mammals or pocket pets (hedgehogs, sugar gliders, rabbits, chinchillas, prairie dogs, ferrets)
Insects and spiders
Rodents (mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs)
Reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles)
Amphibians (frogs, salamanders)
Birds
Animals improperly cleaned and/or with a foul odor
Animals with tusks, horns or hooves (goats, pigs)
Southwest
Southwest also allows support animals to ride with passengers if those animals don't block evacuation routes. But if you have an "unusual or exotic" animal it won't be allowed on. That includes rodents, ferrets, insects, spiders, reptiles, hedgehogs, rabbits, and sugar gliders.
Your therapy animal can fly for a fee under Southwest's pet policy, which allows up to six animals on one flight. But only one support animal per passenger is allowed.
JetBlue
While on JetBlue flights, emotional support animals need to be on the floor or on a passenger's lap. As seen in a recent incident, the animals aren't allowed to be on the seats — at all.
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JetBlue's list of unacceptable animals includes all animals with tusks (so no baby elephants). Here's the full list:
Hedgehogs
Ferrets
Insects
Rodents
Snakes
Spiders
Sugar gliders
Reptiles
Non-household birds (farm poultry, waterfowl, game bird, & birds of prey)
Animals improperly cleaned and/or with a foul odor
Animals with tusk
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Alaska Air
Alaska Air used to have a list of animals it wouldn't accept as emotional support animals. But on Dec. 29, 2020 the air carrier announced an emotional support animal ban. Starting Jan. 11, 2021 it will only accept DOT-certified service animals on flights. For those with reservations made before Jan. 11 with a support animal, those trips will be allowed until Feb. 28, 2021.
Spirit
This is the airline that denied the ill-fated hamster, which makes sense since rodents are on their no-fly list: "Spirit does not accept snakes, other reptiles, rodents, ferrets, and spiders." Other animals need to have forms and permission from health officials to fly on the ground near a passenger's seat or on a passenger's lap.
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Icelandair
Emotional support dogs — that's the only animal —are allowed on the Icelandic airline, but the animal won't be allowed in Iceland since a four-week quarantine period is required. You can travel through Keflavík International Airport in Reykjavík for up to three hours, but then on you must go with your emotional support dog.
WestJet
Traveling with your emotional dogs, cats, miniature horses, pigs, and monkeys is allowed on WestJet, but other "unusual animals" need to get approval on a case-by-case basis. Snakes, reptiles, ferrets, rodents, and spiders are always a no-no.
Here's the full list of prohibited animals:
Amphibians
Animals improperly cleaned and/or with a foul odor
Animals with tusks, horns, or hooves
Ferrets
Goats
Hedgehogs
Insects
Non-household birds (birds of prey, farm poultry, game birds, waterfowl)
Reptiles
Rodents
Snakes
Spiders
Sugar gliders
Allegiant Air
You're good to fly on this budget airline as long as the proper paperwork is filled out for your animal, and the passenger has a mental or emotional health-related disability from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (or DSM IV).
Air Canada
The Canadian airline will allow emotional support dogs, but no other animals are allowed to serve as a comfort animal. The same procedures are required as most other airlines, such as forms verifying emotional or mental need for the support dog.
KLM
Like other European-based airlines, KLM is OK with your emotional support dog as long as the documentation is prepared and available. You can only fly with the support dog on direct flights in and out of the U.S.
British Airways
For flights bound outside the U.S., your support animal won't be allowed on flights. Like many European and non-U.S. air carriers, British Airways only has information about traveling with an assistance dog on its site.
Emirates
Service animals are allowed, but otherwise no pets, emotional support or otherwise, are allowed in Emirates' cabins.
For all those sugar glider emotional support animals out there ... time for a road trip.
UPDATE: May 16, 2018, 5 p.m. PDTAmerican Airlines announced this week that its list of banned emotional support animals will expand. Starting July 1, insects, hedgehogs and goats cannot fly on the airline as passenger support animals. Miniature horses will still be allowed.
Those creatures will be added to its list of other unwelcome animals:
Amphibians
Ferrets
Goats
Hedgehogs
Insects
Reptiles
Rodents
Snakes
Spiders
Sugar gliders
Non-household birds (farm poultry, waterfowl, game birds, & birds of prey)
Animals with tusks, horns or hooves (excluding miniature horses properly trained as service animals)
Any animal that is unclean/has an odor
American said it saw a more than 40 percent increase in service and support animals onboard from 2016 to 2017.
Separate from the American Airlines changes, the U.S. Department of Transportation is looking into changes to rules about transporting service animals on passenger flights.
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UPDATE: Feb. 28, 2020: The U.S. Department of Transportation proposed in January a set of rule changes for emotional support animals on passenger planes. Under the new guidelines, only service animals like guide dogs would be allowed to fly. Other support animals would be banned from the main cabin. It's not official yet, but if the rules change almost all support animals now allowed would only be allowed to travel in cargo areas.
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