Qantas Airlines - Service Animal Policy.
Hello
For your information below to read from LaurenHenley from Blind Citizens
Australia, for more information or any questionscontact Lauren direct on Toll
free: 1800 033 660 or
Email: lauren.henley@xxxxxxxxxx
Dear members and colleagues,
I am writing to provide you with an update on anew service dog policy that has
been introduced by Qantas airlines. This policyrequires service dogs (including
Guide and Seeing Eye Dogs) to be shown to meetspecific measurement requirements
before being granted permission to travel.
Several individuals have already contactedBlind Citizens Australia to note
their concerns about this new policy. Inresponse to these concerns, we have
undertaken further investigation in orderto try and understand the specific
details of the policy and the rationalebehind it.
Last week, we had a lengthy conversation aboutthis issue with Guide Dogs
Australia’s Principle Policy Advisor, JaciArmstrong. Below is a more detailed
outline of the policy, based on ourconversation with Jaci:
Background
· The Disability Discrimination Act is very vague in itsdefinition of an
assistance animal. Over the past few years, there has been anincrease in the
use of emotional assistance animals and animals that have beentrained for other
purposes. As a result, there have been a significant numberof people presenting
with animals that cannot practically travel in the spaceavailable on board an
aircraft.
· The Disability Discrimination Act refers to a regulationfor assistance
animals that was never actually written. In the absence of sucha regulation,
Qantas has identified a need to put restrictions in place toensure a dog can be
safely and comfortably accommodated when flying.
· The new policy appears to be aimed at targeting largerdog breeds presenting
for travel. It is not aimed at targeting breeds likeLabradors and golden
retrievers; which are the breeds that are still mostcommonly used as dog guides
in Australia.
Requirement for dog to be restrained using abody tether
· Qantashas identified that dogs will sometimes move around and in some cases,
becomeairborne during turbulence. We are aware of at least one situation where
a dogguide has become airborne, hit the roof of the plane and has ended up
breakingthree ribs as a result.
· Toaddress this problem, Qantas is introducing a requirement for dogs to
berestrained using a body tether when flying so they are not at risk of
becomingairborne during turbulence.
Requirement for dogs not to exceed a specifiedweight
· Themaximum weight for a dog travelling on board a Qantas flight has been set
at45kg.
· Themaximum weight relates partly to the introduction of the new requirement
fordogs to be restrained using a body tether when flying. The tethers Qantas
willbe using cannot accommodate a dog that weighs any more than 45kg.
· GuideDogs Australia has advised that the dogs they place should never exceed
45 KGand, if they do exceed 45KG this would be related to the dog being
overweight.
Requirement for dogs not to exceed a specifiedlength
· Qantashas introduced a maximum length for dogs travelling on Qantas flights
to ensurethere will be sufficient space available for the dog to lie down
safely andcomfortably on board the aircraft.
· Themaximum length/s specified by Qantas have been calculated according to
theamount of space that is available when a passenger is allocated with two
seats.If a dog exceeded the set length requirement, the passenger would need to
begiven a third seat. While Qantas’ policy has always been to allocate a
secondseat to passengers travelling with a dog guide without any additional
charge,it would not be reasonable to expect them to provide a third.
· Lengthrequirements may vary depending on the size of the aircraft, but the
generalmaximum length for a service dog travelling on board a Qantas flight is
129cm.
· GuideDogs Australia has undertaken a survey to determine the length of dogs
that aretypically placed with handlers. They have since concluded that it would
behighly unusual for a dog to exceed the maximum length that has been set
byQantas.
Blind Citizens Australia’s assessment of thenew policy
· It isextremely unlikely that the new specifications introduced by Qantas will
impactupon current handlers. Handlers who have trained their own dog guides and
whohave chosen larger breeds, however, may potentially be affected by
thesechanges.
· Themeasures introduced by Qantas have been well-researched and are aimed
atmaximising the safety of animals travelling on board Qantas flights. We do
notbelieve the provisions of the new policy amount to discrimination.
· While wedo not believe the new requirements introduced by Qantas are
discriminatory, weare very mindful that these changes will be alarming for some
Qantaspassengers. Our primary concern relates to how this policy will be
implemented,and we will do everything within our power to make sure the process
for bookinga service dog on board a Qantas flight is as easy and stress-free as
possible.
Next steps
· GuideDogs Australia has drafted a communique to current handlers to explain
how theorganisation intends to deal with these changes.
· We willbe contacting Seeing Eye Dogs Australia in the coming weeks to
determine howthey intend to respond to these new changes.
· Therewill be an interview about the new Qantas policy on an upcoming edition
of ourweekly radio program, New Horizons.
· We willcontinue to follow up with Qantas to obtain further information about
theprocess for registering a service dog for travel, and will advocate for
changeswhere needed.
· We willinclude an updated outline of the new policy and its implications for
currentand future handlers in the December edition of our twice-yearly
newsletter,Blind Citizens News.
If you have any immediate concerns about theapplication of this new policy,
please contact your dog guide school in thefirst instance. If you are not
satisfied with their response, please feel freeto contact the team at Blind
Citizens Australia.
Kindest regards,
Lauren Henley
Policy and Advocacy Coordinator
Blind Citizens Australia
Level 3, Ross House
247-251 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: 03 9654 1400
Fax: 03 9650 3200
Toll free:1800 033 660
Email: lauren.henley@xxxxxxxxxx
Web: www.bca.org.au
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BlindCitizensAustralia
