“People were abusing it,” Mr. Lipp said.
According to the industry group Airlines for America, the estimated number of emotional support animals aboard flights grew to 751,000 in 2017 from 481,000 in 2016. The group did not have data on the prevalence of miniature horses specifically.
Other airlines allow miniature horses to fly as service animals, including Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, which also permits service monkeys and service birds.
Alaska Airlines said in a statement that its new policy was designed “to protect the health and safety of passengers and crew while maintaining a safe and orderly operation.”
The policy also clarifies the rules around emotional support animals, which the airline defines as animals that “assist those with a mental health related disability and are not trained to perform a specific task or work.” Passengers can travel with only one emotional support animal each, and the only ones allowed on board are dogs and cats.
Rising reports of misbehavior have led regulators to re-evaluate which animals, including both service animals and emotional support animals, are allowed to accompany passengers with disabilities on flights. As of July, the Transportation Department had received more than 4,000 comments on the issue, which are being reviewed before new rules are finalized.
Currently, airlines are allowed to refuse service animals based on the animal’s size and concerns for the safety of other passengers, among other limitations. Miniature horses should be evaluated on a “case-by-case basis,” the agency said.
Some don’t think miniature horses should be allowed on planes at all.
Airlines for America and two other industry groups, the Regional Airline Association and the International Airline Air Transport Association, told the Transportation Department in July that miniature horses “are simply too large and heavy, with a lower level of physical flexibility, to be suitable for accommodation in cabin.”
