Plane Passengers Are “Livid” After These Airlines Gave Their Seats to Service Dogs

Traveling around the holidays is already enough to make anyone’s blood pressure raise to dangerous levels. But add in an unexpected aggravation, and that stress reaches heights any doctor would find concerning. So, maybe holiday-travel anxiety contributed when, on two separate occasions, airline passengers were outraged that their airlines had given their seats to large service dogs.

At the risk of ticking off even more stressed-out people, here’s a question: If a working dogs gets the seat next to the person they are working for, and you still get a seat on the plane, what’s the big deal? Sure, it’s not the seat you wanted, but everyone gets where they’re going. And someone who qualifies for a service dog and meets the airlines’ expectations for that dog gets the care they need. Sounds like a pretty good deal, no?

That said, here’s what happened and what Delta and United (and the Department of Transportation, aka DOT), have to say about service dogs on planes.

The Delta debacle

On Dec. 21, a Delta passenger posted on the airline’s subreddit, in a post titled “Just Got Downgraded for a Dog.” They shared that they had been “downgraded” from first class to make room for a service dog. The passenger said they were told about the downgrade 15 minutes after they’d been bumped from their previous seat to a first-class seat. So, when they lost their upgrade, they were “disgruntled but whatever.” When they asked a desk agent what had happened, the agent reportedly said, “Something changed.” But, the passenger wrote, when they saw the pup in the seat, they went from moderately miffed to “livid.”

They wrote: “There is no way that dog has spent as much with this airline as I have ... What an absolute joke. What’s the point of being loyal to this airline anymore, truly. I’ve sat back when others complained about this airline mistreating customers lately and slipping in service levels, but I’m starting to question my allegiance as well.“

A note to that Delta flyer: You didn’t pay for that fist-class ticket to begin with, and it got taken away from you so a disabled passenger could fly with their service dog. Maybe it’s time to adjust your priorities a little bit.

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Upset on United

On a separate Reddit thread last week, a United flyer detailed the following happened to them:

“I boarded a flight from SAN to DEN and an enormous ’service’ dog was sitting on my seat. He was way too big to fit on the floor. The flight attendant was a few rows away and when asked if she saw the dog, she just shrugged. My husband and I tried to resolve it with the passenger, but there was no way that dog could fit under his legs in his window seat. Since we were told that it was a completely full flight, and the dog was taking my seat, I thought I was going to get bumped off the flight by this dog. A United staff member came onboard and spoke to the passenger, but the dog remained. Finally, somehow they located another seat for me. The dog stayed on my seat for the whole flight.“

The Reddit poster went on to say that it is “totally absurd that an oversized dog can displace a paying passenger“ and “that it is nasty to have a dog outside of a carrier sitting on passengers’ seats with his butt on the armrests.“ They also complained that the airline gate-checks people’s carry-on bags while not taking issue with service dogs’ size.

For what it’s worth, the airline states on their site that passengers board “after we make sure the plane is cleaned and meets CDC guidelines.“ Each passenger should also receive a sanitation wipe, with which they can clean their seat, if they are concerned about dog germs (or any other germs, for that matter).

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The airlines’ service-animal seat policies

Neither report states whether the passengers had purchased a seat for their pet, but each airline differs slightly when it comes to whether that is required. However, neither explicitly says whether they allow dogs to sit in their own seats.

Delta states that if passengers and their service animals cannot sit in a single sit, they may:

• “Purchase an additional ticket to allow your service animal to occupy the floor space in front of the purchased seat (tickets should be purchased together to receive the same rate)“

• “Check your service animal to a holding area below the cabin without additional charges

United does not require passengers to purchase a seat for their service animal. They state: “We only allow service dogs flying with their owners, or service dogs in training who are flying with their trainers, on our flights for free.” The airline also states that you can bring up to two service dogs on a flight, or one service dog and one pet. If you do the former, the airlines requires that you purchase an extra seat for your pet (see here in FAQs).

Delta’s policy outlines that service animals must:

• “Be a dog fully trained to assist a person with a disability (service animals in training are not eligible)“

• “Be up-to-date on all vaccinations“

• “Fit within the foot space (“footprint”) of your seat and not intrude into the aisles or space of other customers.“

• “Refrain from displaying aggressive or inappropriate animal behavior“

(See Delta’s policy here and additional pet travel guidelines here.)

The airline r eleased the following statement, in part, to People: “Delta teams are aware of the customer complaint and are researching the details of what may have occurred ... Service animals are routinely accommodated on Delta without impacting customer seat assignments.”

United’s policy reads:

• “Your dog should sit in the floor space in front of your seat. They can’t be in the aisle or the floor space of the travelers next to you.“

• “You can put your service dog in a pet-carrier if you choose, as long as it meets size requirements.”

“You can’t sit in an exit row with a service animal.”

(See United’s full policy here and additional pet travel guidelines here.) Kinship has reached out to both Delta and United for comment.

What to know about service animals on planes

Overall, service animals have much fewer restrictions for flying than other pets and emotional support animals (ESAs). In December of 2020, the DOT revised the Air Carrier Access Act ( ACAA) so that ESAs would no longer be considered a service animal. Psychiatric service animals (PSAs), however, are still required to be treated as service animals. You can see more from that language here.

Per the DOT, airlines must be doing the following to determine if an animal is a service animal:

• “Asking an individual with a disability if the animal is required to accompany the passenger because of a disability and what work or task the animal has been trained to perform”

• “Looking for physical indicators such as the presence of a harness or vests”

• “Looking to see if the animal is harnessed, leashed, or otherwise tethered”

• “Observing the behavior of the animal”

The DOT lists the following requirements for those traveling with service animals:

• Your service animal must be permitted to accompany you in the space under the seat in front of you.

• Certain small service animals may be permitted to sit on your lap, if it can be done so safely.

• Your service animal cannot block a space that must remain unobstructed for safety reasons (ex. an aisle or access to an emergency exit).

• An airline is not required to upgrade you to a different class of service to accommodate your service animal.

• Airlines cannot refuse to allow your service animal onboard because it makes other passengers or flight crew uncomfortable.

• Your service animal must behave properly. An animal that engages in disruptive behavior (ex. barking or snarling, running around, and/or jumping onto other passengers, etc. without being provoked) will not be accepted as a service animal.

The above requirements align with both airlines’ policies that service dogs — and don’t mention restrictions to dogs taking their own seat on a plane.