How funny that I just posted last week about Southwest’s new “pet friendly” policy, and one of the comments was to the effect of how nice it would be to have an airline where all the pets were welcome in the cabin.
Ask, and ye shall receive! Voila- Pet Airways!
Their prices seem pretty inexpensive to me (in the mid $100 range each way), especially considering the alternatives. Flying a pet in cargo certainly isn’t cheap, nor is hiring someone to drive your pet if you cannot yourself. It looks like the pets go in a twin turboprop and hop across the nation in shorter segments. There are no pictures of the cabin on the website, but the YouTube video shows a stack of carriers restrained within the cabin much like a row of kennels.
The number one thing this has going for it, in my opinion, is the presence of an attendant to monitor the pets during flight, as well as what I would assume is better tracking than your typical pet cargo route. The most dangerous moments for a pet in the air are the times on the ground, ironically enough, when pets are on the tarmac.
I would love to hear from someone who has any experience with this airline, or any airline, actually, for comparison. The last time I personally flew with a pet was in 1983, so my personal anecdotes on the topic are a little sparse. That being said, this is definitely something I would consider should I need to get a pet across country, especially with a pet too large to go in a commercial cabin. If you had, say, a 40 pound English bulldog with a compromised airway, this would be WELL worth the money.
I just looked at their endorsements- what the heck, Pet Airways? All your endorsements come from men. Who, I wonder, is most likely to spring for this kind of thing? If you want to convince people to open their pockets for such a luxe experience, I recommend a few glamorous female endorsements- maybe a celebrity or two, or an- ahem- female veterinarian. I’m just saying.
On June 18, 2009 at 2:19pm, Chile said...
I’m like a psychic! Someone in power must have read my comment on your blog post regarding Southwest. Although I’d still rather have my dog in the cabin with me. Maybe more will follow suit!
On June 18, 2009 at 7:04pm, Caitlin said...
This is very interesting! It’s great to know that there is actually an airline out there that can take some of the stress off of pet owners traveling long distances with their pet!
For those pet owners out there who are planning air travel with their pet this summer, I found some good information from the ASPCA about safe air travel with your pet. You can go to this link (http://www.catwellness.org/article.asp?ID=1303) to read their top 10 tips.
On June 22, 2009 at 11:52am, silvergrey said...
Such a great idea! Since I’m a ”big dog” person, a way to keep my dog out of cargo, sitting on a hot (or freezing) tarmac is great. I haven’t flown with a dog since the late ’90s, and it was fine, but this looks way better.