Airports Council Welcomes DOT Rule on Air Travel and Service Animals

December 2, 2020

WASHINGTON – Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, today welcomed the final rule put forward today by the U.S. Department of Transportation related to service animals and air travel.

“ACI-NA strongly supports the Department of Transportation’s rule to clarify the definition of service animals during air travel,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke.  “We believe this rule strikes the right balance toward accommodating individuals with disabilities while also ensuring the safety and well-being of other passengers and airport workers. The new rule will help to minimize confusion regarding how our airports operate and accommodate individuals who are traveling with animals. This will eliminate potentially dangerous and unhealthy situations that passengers and airport employees have been placed in at airport facilities and in our terminals, including adverse events with untrained animals. Ultimately this rule will keep our airports safer and ensure the air transportation system remains accessible to all.”

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About ACI-NA

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) represents local, regional, and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Approximately 380 aviation-related businesses are also members of ACI-NA, providing goods and services to airports. Collectively, U.S. airports support more than 11.5 million jobs and account for $1.4 trillion in economic activity – or more than seven percent of the total U.S. GDP. Canadian airports support 405,000 jobs and contribute C$35 billion to Canada’s GDP. Learn more at www.airportscouncil.org.