Service animals

Service animals are welcome on all US Airways flights. There is no charge for trained service animals.

  • The number and type of service animals are not limited as long as they fit on your lap or in front of your seat. Aisles may not be obstructed.
  • If the service animal sits your lap, the animal must be no larger than an infant child
  • Additional restrictions apply on flights outside of the continental United States
  • If you're traveling with a service animal and you'd like special seating such as a bulkhead seat, please call 800-428-4322/TTY 800-245-2966 at least 24 hours before your flight. Because of safety regulations, if you're traveling with a service animal, you may not sit in an exit row.

There are animal relief areas in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix.

To show that an animal is a service animal, you must have one of the following:

  • I.D. card for the animal
  • Presence of harness or tags
  • Other written documentation, or;
  • Credible verbal assurance of the passenger using the animal

Emotional support or psychiatric service animals

Please call 800-428-4322/TTY 800-245-2966 at least 48 hours before your scheduled departure if you're traveling with emotional support or psychiatric service animals.

To travel with an emotional support or psychiatric service animal in the cabin, you must provide documentation dated within one year from the date of the scheduled initial flight on the letterhead of a licensed mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist or licensed clinical social worker), or from a medical doctor specifically treating the passengers mental or emotional disability.

Documentation must state:

  • The passenger has a mental or emotional disability recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- Fourth Edition (DSM IV)
  • The passenger needs the emotional support or psychiatric service animal as an accommodation for air travel and/or for activity at the passenger's destination
  • The individual providing the assessment is a licensed mental health professional or medical doctor, and the passenger is under his or her professional care.
  • The date and type of the mental health professional or medical doctor's license and the state or other jurisdiction in which it was issued

Hawaii animal quarantine

Hawaii is a rabies-free state. If you're traveling to Hawaii with a service animal, emotional support animal or psychiatric service animal, you must have a health certificate issued within 14 days prior to travel. You must also contact the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to get a Neighborhood Island Permit before leaving the mainland if you're traveling to Maui, Kauai or the Big Island.

US Airways will only permit service animals, emotional support animals and psychiatric animals in the cabin for travel to/from Hawaii.

When the service animal or emotional support animal, or psychiatric service animal is a bird or for information on requirements for allowing service animals, emotional support animals and psychiatric service animals to enter the state of Hawaii without quarantine, please contact the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.

Hawaii Department of Agriculture
Animal Quarantine Station
99-951 Halawa Valley Street
Aiea, HI 96701-5602
Phone: 808-483-7151

UK animal quarantine

The United Kingdom is a rabies-free country and its rules governing the entry of animals into the country, including service animals, are strictly enforced. In the past, all animals traveling into the United Kingdom were subject to quarantine for six months.

Now, if you meet certain requirements, it is possible to transport a service dog or a service cat in the cabin on a flight into the UK, without a six-month quarantine upon arrival.

When making a reservation, or no later than 72 hours before departure, you must notify US Airways of your intention to transport a service dog or a service cat in the cabin on a flight into the UK.

At the gate, prior to departure from the U.S., and upon landing in the United Kingdom, you must present a date-stamped official veterinary certificate, signed by a veterinarian licensed by an approved country or an EU pet passport demonstrating that the animal has received:

  • A microchip implant readable by an ISO-compatible scanner or by another scanner compatible with the implanted microchip provided by the passenger.
  • A vaccination against rabies.
  • A rabies antibodies blood test. This test must be completed at least six months before the animal’s initial entry to the UK.
  • Treatment for certain parasites.

The passenger is responsible for the costs and fees associated with the UK’s Pet Travel Scheme.

For detailed current information about compliance procedures, go to the UK’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFFA) website.