As we begin the new year, the aviation industry is closely following certain Department of Transportation (DOT) Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRM) published in 2022. These proposed rulemakings relate to consumer protections, including ancillary fees and airline ticket refunds.
Continue Reading Department of Transportation (DOT) consumer protections – rules to watch

On December 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) announced its final rule revising its Air Carrier Access Act (“ACAA”) regulation on the transportation of service animals by air.[1] The final rule constitutes significant changes to the ACAA regulations regarding the transportation of service animals. Significantly, the final rule restricts the types of service animals allowed on U.S. flights to dogs and frees airlines from having to accommodate a variety of emotional support animals. However, the rule does not bar emotional support animals from traveling in passenger cabins.

Prior to the issuance of the final rule, the DOT published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking titled “Traveling by Air with Service Animals” on May 23, 2018. On February 5, 2020, the DOT issued a Notice of a Proposed Rulemaking providing notice of a proposed rule amending its ACAA regulation on the transportation of service animals by air.[2] The DOT then received more than 15,000 comments on the proposed rule before announcing the final rule on December 2, 2020.
Continue Reading DOT issues new rule addressing emotional support animals on flights