Joanna Lubkin, a Unitarian Universalist minister, relies on her 4-year-old black Labrador named Sully to assist her with daily tasks due to her chronic pain and fatigue. Sully picks up items she drops, presses elevator buttons, and provides support when her body weakens. Joanna never travels without him.
In June, when Joanna and Sully arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport for their flight home to Boston after a conference, they were denied boarding by the JetBlue Airlines gate agent. The agent claimed that there were no forms on file certifying Sully as a service dog.
Since 2021, the Department of Transportation has required travelers with disabilities to fill out a standard form before boarding an aircraft with their trained service animal. This form attests to the dog’s health, behavior, and training. Before her flight with Delta Air Lines to Pittsburgh, Joanna had completed the D.O.T. form for both Delta and JetBlue and uploaded it to their websites. She encountered no issues with Delta, but a week later, she found herself stranded in Pittsburgh when JetBlue failed to verify her form and denied her boarding.
JetBlue uses Open Doors Organization, a small Chicago-based company, to review and approve the D.O.T. forms on their behalf. Many travelers with disabilities, like Joanna, have faced hurdles and found themselves stuck at the airport even after correctly verifying their service dogs for air travel.
Joanna was angry and tired, so she called a friend who offered to drive her the 570-mile journey back to Boston. She expressed her frustration, stating, “Flying is physically painful for me and for a lot of people. Making it that much harder for us to travel is just unjust, and it doesn’t feel right to me.”
Derek Dombrowski, JetBlue’s senior manager for corporate communications, acknowledged Joanna’s concerns and recognized the need for better consistency in verifying paperwork during travel across all flights.
In the past, airlines had their own rules for flying with animals in the cabin, which often required purchasing a special ticket for pets. However, fully trained service animals were exempt from these charges. The 2021 regulations were implemented due to an increase in pets on airplanes during the pandemic, some of which were untrained and posed risks to both travelers and legitimate service animals. There were also cases of passengers attempting to pass off pets or emotional-support animals as trained service animals. As a result, most major airlines stopped accepting emotional-support animals on board, and the Transportation Department introduced new rules for service animals.
These rules allow airlines to require users of service animals (defined as dogs trained to perform tasks directly related to an owner’s disability) to submit a completed D.O.T. form. JetBlue, Allegiant, Sun Valley, and Alaska Airlines partnered with Open Doors to process these forms. Travelers upload the forms to the airlines’ websites, and Open Doors verifies the legitimacy of the service dogs by examining the form and contacting the trainers if necessary.
Other airlines, like American Airlines and United Airlines, review and approve the forms themselves. However, some dog trainers and disability advocates argue that these new rules may be illegal.
Despite submitting her D.O.T. form and receiving confirmation from the service dog organization that trained Sully, Joanna faced a denied application from Open Doors upon her return flight with JetBlue. This experience led her to consider it discrimination, as a corporation was making it difficult for her to receive accommodations for her disability.
Other travelers have also encountered similar issues with different airlines. Ashley O’Connor, a stay-at-home mother, experienced a denied application from Allegiant Airlines even after filling out the D.O.T. form and receiving confirmation from Open Doors. She was told there were no forms on file when she arrived at the airport. In the end, she had to rely on her elderly great-grandparents to drive her son’s service dog to their destination.
Open Doors has admitted to some communication issues with the airlines, primarily due to improperly trained airline employees. Eric Lipp, the organization’s founder, believes that airline workers should allow customers with clear disabilities to board or contact Open Doors for guidance in such situations.
The Air Carrier Access Act, passed in 1986, mandates that airlines allow travelers with disabilities to board with their service animals. The act also limits the questions airlines can ask about a traveler’s disability. However, airlines cannot require passengers to prove specific training for their dogs or that the training was done by an accredited source.
Ashley Townsend, a blind social worker who relies on her black lab Lolly, experienced confusion when flying with JetBlue. Despite calling the airline in advance to confirm her ability to travel with Lolly, she later discovered that her D.O.T. form needed to be reviewed by Open Doors. The lack of communication led to unnecessary stress and uncertainty.
These instances raise concerns about the difficulties and potential discrimination faced by travelers with disabilities. It is essential for airlines to streamline the service animal approval process, ensure consistency, and prioritize the well-being of all passengers and crew members. Collaboration with organizations like Open Doors should aim to improve training for airline employees and prevent unnecessary denials.
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