Unusual animals such as miniature horses, pigs, and monkeys may be allowed to travel as service animals. To determine whether the animal will be allowed in the cabin, the airline may consider the animal’s size, weight, whether the animal would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others, or cause a significant disruption in cabin service. If these are a problem, the animal may have to travel in the cargo hold. Also, if there are restrictions on any of these animals at the destination, the animal may not be allowed to fly at all.

Other unusual animals such as snakes, ferrets, and spiders cannot board the plane at all, as they may pose safety and public health concerns. Foreign airlines only have to transport dogs as service animals.

Any service animal may not be allowed to board if the animal barks, growls, jumps on people or misbehaves in ways that indicate the animal has not been trained to behave properly in public settings, poses adirect threat to the health and safety of others, or poses a significant risk of disruption in airline service.

Service animals cannot be denied passage because other passengers are allergic to, annoyed by, or afraid of animals. Airlines will make the accommodations needed to assure that other passengers are comfortable. If a passenger has a severe allergy that is bad enough to be a disability and they cannot travel in the same cabin as a service animal, a carrier may rebook one of the passengers on another flight. Passengers who indicate they have a severe allergy may be asked for medical documentation proving the disability.

A person traveling with a service animal may ask to board the plane early and request a bulkhead seat or another seat that better suits their needs. People with disabilities can sit in any seat with their service animal unless they block an aisle or an exit row. In order to accommodate a service animal, an airline does not have to ask another passenger to give up all or most of the space in front of their seats. Airline personnel may try to find someone willing to share their foot space. Airlines can voluntarily reseat a person traveling with a service animal to a business or first-class seat to accommodate a service animal, but are not required to do so.

In-flight services and facilities (i.e., food, water, bathrooms) do not have to be provided to service animals. Individuals traveling with the animals must provide for the animal’s food, care, and supervision. However, in the terminal, airlines must provide animal relief areas and provide someone to escort individuals traveling with service animals to these areas, upon request.

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