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Why Puppies Still Rule the Plane
Ask Chris · August 10, 2000

Q: I recently flew from Newark to San Francisco on United Airlines. About three hours into the flight my eyes became puffy and my nose started running. I was seated in the third row of first class. I asked the flight attendant if there were any animals on board. She checked the manifest and, lo and behold, there was a cat in seat 28F.

I was able to improve the symptoms with a dose of antihistamine and some other medication I carry.

The response I got from United is, "Let's move you away from the animal." Last Sunday, I couldn't have been much farther from the animal if I had been seated on the wing. So this solution does not work.

Have you heard of other travelers having similar problems? The airlines stopped serving peanuts because some passengers got allergic reactions from the smell and dust of peanuts in the ventilation systems. Any hope on getting animals in the cabin banned?

-- John deCastro

A: This isn't the first complaint I've gotten about allergy problems on aircraft, nor will it be the last. The airline industry's unofficial position is that pets are more important than people.

If you don't believe me - and I think after the United flight, you probably do - then click on United's pet policy. While the carrier may refuse to transport an animal, it's still more than willing to find room for one in the main cabin under most circumstance. That includes the presence of a human traveler with severe pet allergies.

True, some carriers banned peanuts (actually, they created a "peanut free" zone for allergy sufferers) which suggested that the industry's attitude toward allergy-prone passengers was changing. But if you thought the next thing to go would be animals or people wearing too much perfume, you were misled. The puppies still rule on the plane.

You want my personal opinion? I think pets have absolutely no place in the main cabin, the cargo hold, or anywhere else on the plane. Basically, pets don't like to travel. Whether they're cooped up in a kennel in the underbelly of an aircraft or trapped between two seats in economy class, cats or dogs never ever enjoy a plane trip.

The federal government, which regulates these things, is all but silent on the issue of transporting pets. As I read the code of federal regulations, I'm left with the impression that if United Airlines wanted to, it could allow sheep, chickens and cows in the main cabin. That would certainly give new meaning to the term "cattle class," which is what travel columnists like myself like to call economy class.

In fact, the only specific mention of pets is in section 382.55, which stipulates that commercial carriers "shall permit dogs and other service animals used by handicapped persons to accompany the persons on a flight."

Next time you fly, mention your allergy problem to the reservationist in advance. Also, ask for a notation to be made in your passenger and frequent flier profile so that the carrier is alerted to your disability. If a pet shows up on the passenger manifest, at least you'll have the option of taking another flight rather than suffering through a trip with Fido.

It is indeed sad that the rights of animals are considered more important than the rights of a traveler - not to mention one seated in the first-class cabin.

But then again, aren't we all treated like livestock by the airlines?

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. Ask Chris appears weekly on this site.