Colombian airline Avianca won't allow large animals in its cabin after passengers violate policy

A Colombian airline has been forced to change its pet policy after passengers on a six-hour flight pretended more than two dozen dogs were emotional support or service animals, leaving other fliers fuming.

Most of the 25 pedigreed pets were traveling on budget airline Avianca with their owners to Bogota from São Paulo where they'd competed in the FCI World Dog Championships in early December. 

Now, Avianca has announced that emotional support dogs will only be permitted to fly in the cabin if they can fit in a carrier bag that can be placed underneath a seat, and weigh less than 22lbs.  

The airline will require that all dogs remain inside its carrier bag. 

'If you do not meet these requirements, your emotional support dog must fly in the (cargo) hold,' Avianca said in a statement.

Passengers traveling back to Bogotá, Colombia, await to board an Avianca flight in São Paulo, Brazil, on December 11. The presence of 25 dogs fumed some of the customers who accused fellow passengers of taking advantage of a policy that permits emotional pets in the cabin with their owners. On Monday, Avianca announced changes to its policy and said that emotional pets and the bags they are placed in can't weigh more than 22 pounds

A passenger exits the flight which ended up upsetting customers due to the presence of 25 dogs, most of which had reportedly attended the 2022 FCI World Dog Show in São Paulo

Passengers will no longer be permitted to be accompanied by their dogs for emotional purposes when traveling on Avianca flights if their pet and the bag they are kept in weigh a combined 22 pounds

In addition, a maximum of six emotional dogs will be allowed to travel on each flight.

The change in policy will go into effect February 1, 2023.

The air carrier's decision comes after passengers aboard a December 11 flight from São Paulo, Brazil, to the Colombian capital of Bogotá complained that some of the passengers had taken advantage of the ability to fly with their emotional pets.

Avianca’s current policy requires customers to notify the airline of their plans to fly with their pets within 48 hours of departure and submit proper documentation. 

The company website does not indicate if there is a limit of dogs allowed in the cabin, each dog in the cabin must weigh no more than 22 pounds.

Only dogs and cats are allowed on flights and they must be four months old. Service dogs are permitted and a customer accompanied by an emotional support dog has to provide a medical certificate.

Customers are required to keep their support dogs in a flexible container and it must be accommodated under the sets in front of them.

The new policy was with met with outrage from Avianca customers who in the past have flown with the pet dogs, including Keisha Gómez who opposed having her dog placed in a pet cage in the cargo area.

Avianca said its pet policy will go into effect February 1, 2023, much to the dismay of a lot of passengers who don't want their pets to be separated from them during a flight

'Oh, I won't be able to travel with Monet anymore and he behaves super well, but he would never go to the hold,' Gómez tweeted. 'The confinement would cause him panic, he is very anxious when he is not with me.'

Gómez slammed the airline for caving into the complaints made by passengers on the São Paulo-Bogotá flight.

'How sad that @Avianca is allowing itself to be pressured by people without empathy who do not understand that they are part of our therapy,' she wrote.

In response, the Airline assured Gómez and all customers that their dogs would remain their top priority in the event that they are too big to fly in the cabin.

'We're holding up to industry standards, Keisha. Emotional support dogs will be able to fly, just under different conditions, depending on their characteristics and documentation,' the airline said. 'Don't worry! We'll watch over Monet's safety, it's our priority.'