Pet Airways: Pets-only airline in US from July 14, 2009

A pets-only domestic airline is being launched in the United States on July 14, 2009.

Pet Airways – where dogs, cats, or other pets travel in the main cabin, not in cargo – says it would start by serving five cities in the United States: to and from Denver, New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles.

The carrier said in a statement that a one-way flight would costs around $149 and that it was now accepting reservations for its first New York-Los Angeles flight, scheduled for July 14, 2009.

Pet Airways, based in Delray Beach, Florida, the United States, said it hoped to expand its service to 25 cities in the United States.

The carrier said it would offer a pets-only cabin service in 19-seat turboprop aircraft, the seats of which would be removed.

“From the moment a pet is dropped off at a Pet Lounge, the pet is always under the care of trained attendants,” Dan Wiesel, president and CEO of Pet Airways, said in the statement.

“Pets, he added, “will fly in planes that are fully-lit, climate-controlled and have the proper level of fresh air circulation that pets require.”
Pet Airways clarified that the airline “would carry pets (or ‘pawsengers’), but not their human friends, in the main cabin.”

The pet-carrier said that owners of pets can leave their animals at the airport and track their progress online at www.petairways.com and added that many airlines require that “pets be transported in the cargo hold of aircraft in cages and others won’t carry pets at all.”

According to Dan Wiesel, the experience of flying in the cargo hold is “frightening” to the pets and also can cause “severe emotional and physical harm, even death.”
It is very different with Pet Airways, Wiesel said in the statement, adding: “From the moment a pet is dropped off at a Pet Lounge, the pet is always under the care of trained Pet Attendants.”

Depending on transit time, the airline would offer pets on board toilet facilities, food and water, as needed, during stops.

Alysa Binder, founder and executive vice-president of Pet Airways and wife of Dan Wiesel, was quoted by the website aero-news.net as saying: “For us, it is all about the safety and the comfort of the pets.”

Alysa Binder said she and her husband were inspired to begin the “unusual service” after shipping their Jack Russell Terrier called Zoe from the San Francisco area to South Florida, and “considering an alternative for pets travelling in cargo holds.”

A report in the Washington Post said that Pet Airways was planning to use a variety of aircraft ranging from turboprops to Boeing 727 jets.

More information on Pet Airways and flight schedule can be had from the website petairways.com