Story Time: Flying with a Service Dog
Ok so I've flown with Deacon...dozens of times over the last 8ish years. He's always been on his best behavior and rarely have I had an issue with the people around us (we used to have issues with poorly-behaved ESAs, but not recently). Because Deacon is 65lbs, we fly bulkhead, and because we usually fly Southwest (where they assign boarding groups, not seats), we get pre-boarding capabilities after the folks in wheelchairs so we can snag a bulkhead spot. This has never been an issue until our flight back to Austin from Denver.
While waiting in the pre-board line, there was a woman who was not in a wheelchair who pushed her way to the front and was eventually let onto the plane first. I thought that was odd, but I also am intimately aware that not all disabilities are visible. Once I get onto the plane, I find that the left side bulkhead seating is full (two wheelchair users and their travel companion). The right side has two open seats, with the woman I noticed before in the aisle seat. I say hi and move to take the window seat so Deacon can curl up in the corner, as usual, and the woman immediately stops me saying no, I can't sit there. I ask if someone else is sitting there and she says no but she doesn't like dogs. I explain that Deacon is too large to fit in front of a normal seat, so we have to have bulkhead, and these are the only bulkhead seats available. She says that's not her problem and has literally stuck her legs out so we can't pass. The flight attendant comes over to see what's wrong and the woman says she doesn't want me to sit by her. The flight attendant reiterates that the seats next to her are the only available options for us. The woman says the airline can't force her to sit next to us because she's allergic to dogs and that's a medical issue. The flight attendant points out that, in that case, since Deacon and I require the additional bulkhead space and she does not, she can select a different seat.
The woman repeats that she has an allergy and the flight attendant offers to reseat her at the back of the plane. The woman huffs and puts on her headphones and lets me pass to sit in the window. She proceeds to ignore me for the rest of the flight and, shockingly, does not mention nor appears to suffer from, any allergies. After we landed and were waiting to deplane, she made a phone call where she spoke in Spanish to someone (I'm assuming she thought I wouldn't understand?) about how the flight was awful because they "forced her" to sit next to a horrible dog.
The horrible dog in question, for reading this rant:
