Air travel can be a messy business, especially if you are flying with a horse. Take the following excerpt from an American Airlines passenger record last week:
"PAX WAS TRAVELING WITH A MINIATURE SERVICE HORSE IN SEAT B3. HORSE HAD A BOWEL MOVEMENT ON THE CARPET OF THE BULKHEAD. CABIN SVC HAD TO DO EXCESSIVE CLEANING IN ORDER FOR AIRCRAFT TO LEAVE FOR THE NEXT FLIGHT. STRONG ODOR ALSO HAD TO BE AIRED OUT.... ORD CSM JP INCUSCI"
It seems the passenger ("PAX" in airline shorthand) was flying from Boston to Chicago for a taping of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The man, Dan Shaw, is legally blind, and his seeing-eye guide, Cuddles, qualifies as a "service horse." Under Federal Aviation Administration rules, service animals may travel in the cabin with the passenger, and airlines accommodate all sorts of creatures. Since even miniature horses standing 2 feet tall and weighing 70 pounds don't fit in the main cabin, they have to fly first-class.
The show aired yesterday, appropriately titled “That’s Incredible!”
Airplanes are our most basic form of long haul transportation, and the things airlines end up transporting are often a slice of the lives we lead. On the inanimate side, foreign visitors often turn up trying to check washing machines and television sets purchased on U.S. shopping trips.
Animals usually make for more interesting flights. Movie stars want first-class seats for their pets, and such arrangements have to be approved in advance. Airlines keep track of unruly Hollywood pets. But the well-behaved ones are welcomed with open arms, so long as they are paying customers. Jack Lemmon's standard poodle, Chloe, had a wonderful reputation among airline folks, and the late actor always bought a first class seat for her.
Just
recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation clarified rules on "service
animals" to include all manner of beasts if mental-health professionals declare that they are necessary for relieving stress and flying anxiety. If a monkey is necessary to help a passenger get through a flight, the DOT said, then the monkey can come along.
"Animals that assist persons with disabilities by providing emotional support qualify as service animals," the DOT said, noting that "service animals also perform a much wider variety of functions than ever before."
The rules, published May 9, update guidelines issued by the DOT in 1996 that dealt mostly with dogs assisting passengers who can't see or hear. The new rules more specifically define what a service animal is and who can have one. They also spell out what steps airlines need to take, such as determining whether the animal poses a health or safety threat to others or would disrupt cabin service, and when animals can legally be “refused carriage in the cabin."
Nearly three years ago, a pot-bellied pig flew in the first-class cabin of a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Seattle because her owner said she needed the pig's companionship to relieve stress. US Air classified the pig as a service animal. That proved it: Pigs can fly.
In the case of the miniature horse, American had no doubt that the animal was indeed a "service horse," and the airline had been assured that it was housebroken, spokesman John Hotard said. There had been talk among airline officials about whether the horse should be diapered. But since the Boston to Chicago flight takes only a little more than two hours, nobody insisted on it.
Then-and we all know the feeling-the flight was delayed by FAA air traffic control for 45 minutes on the ground in Boston. The horse did her best, but as the plane was landing, nature called.
Before allowing Cuddles on the return flight, American quizzed flight attendants who were on the earlier flight, and learned that the mess hadn't been all that bad, and most of it had been cleaned up by Mr. Shaw himself. The cleaning crew may have overreacted a bit, Mr. Hotard said.
The airline also wondered whether other first class passengers were upset about sharing the forward cabin with a small horse. No, flight attendants said, the other passengers were amused by the whole thing. So headquarters decided to put Cuddles back in first class for the flight home on Tuesday last week "due to extenuating circumstances of ATC on the outbound," according to the passenger record.
Mr. Shaw depends on his horse. The Maine craftsman, who couldn't be reached for comment, told Ms. Winfrey that he feared getting attached to a guide dog with a relatively short life span. Cuddles, he said, has a lifespan of more than 30 years. "I think the most incredible thing Cuddles has done for me is she made me realize that being blind ain't so bad," he said on the show. "She's the best friend I've ever had, it's like having a new life."
A spokeswoman for Harpo Productions Inc., which produces "Oprah," said the show ponied up to buy two first class seats for the horse and owner. Since the horse can't really curl up like a dog, even with "More Room in Coach," it wouldn't fit in the coach cabin without blocking the aisle. Instead, Cuddles was able to stretch out at the forward bulkhead in the first-class cabin.
Did the horse have to take off her shoes to get through security? No, says Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Chris Rhatigan." It probably followed our passenger travel tips ahead of time, and emptied its saddle bags before going through," she adds.
The good news for American is that it didn't have to take the plane out of service, or replace carpet, or incur extra expenses. This incident was far less costly than one several years ago when a pit bull ate through its cage and got loose in the cargo hold, forcing an unscheduled landing. And it was certainly less costly than the 1995 case of Marcelle Becker, a Beverly Hills socialite who flew first class with her eight-pound Maltese, named Dom Perignon. The dog got loose in the cabin, and when flight attendants tried to push it back into its Luis Vuitton carrier, Ms. Becker became so unruly that the captain of Flight 19 ended up tying her to her seat with D.P.'s leash. She sued the airline for assault, civil-rights violations and cruelty to animals - and lost a jury trial. She also sued the airline for libel and the case was dismissed.
Through her spokesman, Mrs. Becker declined to comment." She would definitely support the horse," Beverly Hills public-relations man Edward Lozzi said on her behalf." And she would blame the airline. What did they do to make the horse go like that?"