I don’t fly on USAir / American very often, but when I did last week, my flight included two full-size dogs. These dogs had none of the usual service dog signage, nor were they in any kind of container. They just boarded with everyone. The one nearest to me had been trained to stay under the seat and did so through the hour-long flight.
Both of these dogs were quite well-behaved, but the issues here are obvious: What happens when the inevitable asshole boards with an ill-behaved dog whose doggie downers wear off halfway through the flight? What if the plane needs to be evacuated?
Is this a American Airlines thing? Is it a new policy?