cheryl
Administrator
Staff member
For airline passengers, dealing with food and animal allergies is a delicate dance - Los Angeles Times
The friendly skies can be downright hostile if you’re one of the millions of airline passengers who suffer animal-related allergies. Add food allergies, and it becomes a transportation jungle.
That’s partly because airlines must consider competing needs: the passenger who needs a service animal versus the flier for whom animal dander is an issue, and the passenger who has a food allergy versus fliers who do not.
Disabled passengers who need service animals and passengers who suffer asthma and allergies are legally protected groups under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Carrier Access Act.
“If a passenger has an allergy that rises to the level of a disability [e.g., produces shock or respiratory distress that could require emergency or significant medical treatment], and there is an individual with a service animal seated nearby, airlines have an obligation to accommodate both passengers under the ACAA,” DOT rules say. “One disability does not trump another.”
The friendly skies can be downright hostile if you’re one of the millions of airline passengers who suffer animal-related allergies. Add food allergies, and it becomes a transportation jungle.
That’s partly because airlines must consider competing needs: the passenger who needs a service animal versus the flier for whom animal dander is an issue, and the passenger who has a food allergy versus fliers who do not.
Disabled passengers who need service animals and passengers who suffer asthma and allergies are legally protected groups under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Carrier Access Act.
“If a passenger has an allergy that rises to the level of a disability [e.g., produces shock or respiratory distress that could require emergency or significant medical treatment], and there is an individual with a service animal seated nearby, airlines have an obligation to accommodate both passengers under the ACAA,” DOT rules say. “One disability does not trump another.”