Even under the best of circumstances, air travel can be tremendously stressful. Long security lines, concerns about missing your flight and anxiety over the flight experience itself can all play a part in making the experience less-than-welcoming. There’s a relatively easy way to alleviate stress for many a traveler, though, and it involves someone with four legs and a lot of fur.
NPR’s Katia Riddle recently chronicled some new additions to the staff at Portland International Airport: a llama named Beri and an alpaca named Captain Jack. Both appear at the airport on a rotating schedule; they’re both active therapy animals with busy schedules. Based on the reactions from travelers that Riddle wrote about, though, they seem to be a welcome part of the airport when they’re in the building.
The thinking behind bringing in Beri and Captain Jack is to make the airport a little less like, well, an airport. Port of Portland spokesperson Allison Ferre spoke of the role that being in nature can have on people’s stress levels. “The therapy animals that come in is just one way we kind of deliver on that for the traveler experience,” Ferre told NPR.
While the two Oregonian ungulates are some of the largest therapy animals on call at an airport, they’re also part of a broader movement bringing more lovable creatures into a high-stress environment. In 2017, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport won an award for its program that brought miniature horses to greet passengers, for instance.
The bulk of therapy animals in airports, however, are of the canine variety. An Instagram account dedicated to airport therapy dogs has over 11,000 followers, and features photos of different dogs as well as the dates and times that travelers might encounter them. (Also included: Taz, a therapy cat at Calgary International Airport.) Evidently, a number of airports also featured Halloween-themed dog parades last week, along with at least one canine wedding.
While there are plenty of therapy animals in U.S. airports, this is also a global phenomenon. Earlier this year, Istanbul Airport began a pilot program in which five therapy dogs were employed to reduce travelers’ anxiety. Kraków Airport has also had a therapy dog on hand in its departures area since 2019.
“Traveling can be a stressful experience, which is why we care about providing a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere at our airport,” said Istanbul Airport’s customer service manager, Abdülkadir Demirtaş when the pilot program began. “Many scientific studies have proven the positive effects of human and animal interaction on blood pressure, stress and anxiety levels.” It’s hard to think of a better way to reduce stress before a flight than rubbing a dog’s belly — unless, perhaps, you’re allergic.
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