First pet-only airline launches Tuesday

Photo: Pet Airways

Pet Airways is launching the first pet-only airline specifically designed for the safe and comfortable transportation of pets, with the first pet flights scheduled for Tuesday. On Pet Airways, all pets travel in the main cabin not in the cargo hold.

Founded in 2005, the airline currently serves five cities to start - New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. Pet Airways plans to expand nationwide with easily accessible pet check-in lounges to serve its “pawsengers” in major metropolitan areas.

A proprietary web-enabled reservation system will allow customers to book pet travel on the web. Owners will be able to track their pet’s travel progress online at http://www.petairways.com.

According to Dan Wiesel, President/CEO of Pet Airways, “Currently, most pets traveling by air are transported in the cargo hold and are handled as baggage. The experience is frightening to the pets, and can cause severe emotional and physical harm, even death. This is not what most pet owners want to subject their pets to, but they have had no other choice, until now.”

According to the American Animal Hospital Association, approximately 76 million cats and dogs travel with their owners each year.

“Pet owners who want to transport their pets across the country are faced with limited or dangerous transportation choices,” Pet Airways says.

Despite the high number of pets traveling, relatively few currently travel by air. This is not surprising, considering the conditions under which most pets must travel. Many airlines allow small pets to travel with their owners, stowed under the seat, but most airlines will only accept one or two pets per flight. Pets that are too big to fit under the seat are relegated to cargo, and unfortunately in many cases, are treated as such. Recently, several airlines have announced they will no longer accept pets on board their aircraft at all. In addition, airlines that do accept pets as cargo will not accept them when outside temperatures are below 45 degrees or above 85 degrees, or in other words, during the most popular winter holiday or summer vacation months. Pet parents should be aware that a cargo hold can quickly reach temperatures over 120 degrees.

A study by the San Francisco SPCA, found that of the two million animals transported in the cargo holds of commercial airliners per year, approximately 5,000 are injured in transit.

According to the Animal, Plant and Health Inspection Service, “virtually every major airline has been cited and fined for repeatedly mishandling animals”. As a result of a lack of oxygen and temperature control in the cargo holds, the most common causes of death are suffocation and heat prostration, although one airline was cited for placing a dog too close to a motor, which burned the animal.

Monitored by Pet Attendants, pets will fly in Pet Airways planes that are fully-lit, climate-controlled and have the proper level of fresh air circulation that pets require.