Tuesday marked the debut flight of the world’s first all-pet airline, run by husband-and-wife team Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel.  While nearly all major U.S. airlines allow small dogs and cats to accompany paying passengers in the cabin, anything larger than a lap dog must travel in cargo, a scary place for doting pet owners, that’s somewhat notorious for its drastic changes in temperature. One nerve-racking flight with Zoe – the couple’s Jack Russell Terrier – in the cargo hold convinced Alysa and Dan to find a better way for animals to fly. Their solution is Pet Airways, a five-plane fleet that’s been 4 years in the making – onboard all seats have been stripped and replaced by animal carriers for dogs and cats (reptiles, birds, and even pigs will be welcome in the future).

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Southwest Airlines has opened up its cabin doors to passengers’ furry pals, courtesy of its brand-new P.A.W.S (Pets Are Welcome on Southwest) policy, which permits small cats and dogs in cabin for a $75 fee. While P.A.W.S has triggered delight from pet owners nationwide, it’s also resulted in a whine from customers suffering from pet allergies, afraid of the inescapable dander soon-to-be onboard. Several other commercial airlines (like Jet Blue, AirTran, and United, to name a few) have allowed pets in the cabin for quite some time, however, and serious allergy problems, if they’ve been reported, have not proved to be a large enough issue to lead to cancellations of the policy. Southwest also plans to maintain a five pet-per-plane limitation to keep noise, odor, and allergies under control. Read the rest of this post »

In December, JetBlue rolled out a new program called JetPaws that’s designed to improve the experience of flying with pets. It’s intended for dogs and cats small enough to ride in the main cabin, which means not more than 20 pounds (including the weight of the carrier). After paying JetBlue’s standard pet fee ($100 each way), travelers can sign up for the free program and receive a pet carrier tag, a guide to travel “petiquette,” and an e-booklet that lists pet-friendly hotels, restaurants, parks, and animal hospitals in JetBlue’s major cities. Read the rest of this post »