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I have severe animal allergies, especially to cats. Animal hair is not the real problem, except where it gets all over your clothes and contains pet saliva, dust, mold, and waste--it is the dander that is floating in the air that you can't see and sticks to everything. It remains around for a long time. Yes, other airlines allow pets and I have avoided them at all costs. But occasionally, I have had to fly on other airlines. And, I have had to be moved to another seat as far away as possible in order to breathe, and I have still gone into an asthma attack, scaring (not intentionally) the crew and passengers. I have been met at the gate by medical personnel.
Animals smell (sorry folks--I don't care how much you bathe your pets, they still smell). And listening to a dog howl because a baby is crying, or having to smell an "accident," well...
MY QUESTIONS:
1. Are F/A's going to go through the cabin after each flight cleaning the seats of people who flew with a pet? (Animal dander is sticky.)
2. Will filters on the plane be replaced so that the dander is not recirculated over and over? 3. Will new passengers on a flight be told which seat someone with a pet sat in on the previous leg so they can find another seat? And will such a disclosure be done discreetly so as to not make the allergic person feel like the guilty one? Could allergic travelers be flagged in the system so that precautions can be taken in a respectful manner?
4. Does the airline have plans to limit the number of pets per flight? Will passengers be able to get that info so that we know whether a flight might cause an emergency room visit or subsequent medical problems? (Exposure to animals for me can also create a reaction up to 12 hours later. Even being in a room where a cat was causes me to have an asthma attack. ) There is no worse feeling (other than watching blood spurt from an artery) than being unable to breathe, watching your extremities turn blue.
5. Will the flight attendants relocate pax to other seats, knowing full well, that most people will not want to move? (And, no, don't put me in a middle seat when I had an aisle seat.)
And to the person who said, be prepared for lots of fees on the other airlines, well, one emergency room visit for an asthma attack costs $600+ dollars in my city (a far cry from the $25 bag fee at another airline). Unfortunately, the attitude I see is one of insensitivity to people with animal allergies. And those who do not have them HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA of the health dangers that exist for people with animal allergies. (They don't "see" the physical problem, so don't believe it exists.) Each day 11 people die from asthma (65% of deaths are women), and asthma is a contributing factor in nearly 7000 deaths a year.
Yes, I agree with Gary Kelly, these are hard times--but for some different reasons as well. I applaud SWA's efforts to hold down costs and not charge for at least the first bag. (I feel sorry for the elderly who must check bags. I have rheumatoid arthritis and have to check my bag.) But, it is also getting harder and harder for travelers to travel without having to put up with more and more discomforts, whether in personal comfort on the plane (sandwiched between two obese people) or the logistics of just making a reservation (ok--it is very easy to do that with SWA) and getting from point A to point B, and the dollar gouging for bags (sort of like buying a car--soon we will have to buy the tires for the car as they won't come with them!).
I am all for a company's earning a profit--they have to to stay in business. But when I see executives making obscene salaries while tacking on fee after fee (SWA--thank God you don't, but I can't help think that the pet policy has been instituted to improve the bottom line at a faster rate), I can't help wondering whether CEOs are now graduating in the bottom half of their MBA classes, as some of the management policies coming out of them would indicate a disconnect with common sense. Notwithstanding cargo-only carriers, if it were not for passengers, the airlines would not be in business.
From my perspective, I question how much SWA thought this through. Can't help think that anyone involved in the decision had animal allergies. I just hope SWA reconsiders the pet policy, and at least lets passengers with allergies know when a flight has pets on board, how many, and what type. I am saddened that I will probably have to find alternate transportation. But my health is my #1 priority.
I don’t think you will be surprised to hear me say that we are in the midst of one of the most challenging times in aviation history. In fact, it’s my opinion that this decade has been the most difficult in our industry’s 100-year history, and this year is arguably the most difficult we’ve seen this decade. While Southwest Airlines is prepared for these tough times, we are certa
Categories: Flying, Under the hood
Posted by: Gary Kelly | May 30, 2009 at 12:56 am |
