Safest Airline for Pets

Major airline carriers such as United, Continental and Delta transport pets in the cargo hold of their planes for a fee. Depending on the size of the dog or cat, some carriers will allow a limited number of dogs to fly with their owners inside the cabin if they are placed beneath the passengers' seats. For a pet to fly inside of the cabin, the traveler must also pay a fee. There is also an airline called Pet Airways, which specializes in pet transport and only allows pets to fly in the cabin.

  1. Pet Airways

    • Pet Airways is an airline dedicated solely to flying pets in-cabin. According to Pet Airways' website, founders Dan and Alysa lost their dog Zoe during transport on a major airline carrier and, out of a desire to give pet owners other options, founded Pet Airways. Pet Airways offers a Pet Lounge, potty breaks for pets, constant monitoring of pets during the flight and pet-friendly arrival procedures including final potty breaks. Planes flown are Beechcraft 1900 aircrafts, which are much smaller than commercial passenger planes. While owners are not allowed to fly with their pets, they can use Pet Airways' online travel tracker tool to track the status of their pets as they travel to their destinations. Pet Airways provides service to airports in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York, Omaha and Phoenix.

    United Airlines

    • If one is to measure the ability of an airline to transport pets safely, the number of pet deaths during travel on that airline's aircraft is a good place to start. United could be deemed the safest airline in that regard since, during the period of May 2005 through December 2009, it had only 17 deaths, injuries or losses of pets that it transported. By contrast, U.S. Airways lost, injured or killed 224 dogs during the same time span, according to ABC News.

      United Airlines posts pet guidelines for safe travel on its website that include minimum age, size and weight restrictions, kennel measurements, weather-related restrictions, breed restrictions and distance restrictions. Pets are transported through United Cargo, and fees are determined based on distance, number and weight of dog(s) being transported.

    American Airlines

    • According to CBS News, American Airlines ranks second in least number of travel-related pet deaths, injuries or losses, with 33. American Airlines has guidelines and procedures posted on its website. It allows seven pets to travel in-cabin on any given flight as long as they meet size and kennel requirements and as long as the flight is not traveling to or from Hawaii or South America. It also allows pets to be transported as luggage in the cargo area of the plane. A maximum number of two checked pets per passenger is allowed. A number of other restrictions are in place to prevent injury, death or other harm to animals being transported.