Flying The Deadly Skies: Will New Policies Protect Our Pets?

"Fly the friendly skies" was once a popular slogan for United Airlines, but lately they've been popping up inside depressing headlines associated with the tragic deaths of animals during some of their flights. Following multiple incidences on United, recently a pet Pomeranian was found deceased in its crate after a routine Delta flight from Phoenix to Newark.

In March 2018, United was under fire after a flight attendant forced a passenger to place their crated canine into the overhead compartment during a journey from Houston to New York. After landing at LaGuardia airport, the canine was unresponsive and died shortly thereafter. As animal lovers anguish over these painful losses, pet owners are pondering the safety of air travel for their beloved pets.

Despite these dreadful and deadly occurrences, from a statistical standpoint, pets perishing during a flight is a relatively rare event. According to figures from January through December 2017, with over a half-million animals being transported on board sixteen different airlines, there were 24 deaths, 15 injuries, and one pet reported missing.

This equates to less than one (0.79) incident per 10,000 animals traveling on board a commercial airline. Looking at these figures further we find the worst offenders were:

• 18 deaths and 13 injuries on United (2.24 per 10,000)
• American reported 2 deaths and 1 injury (0.87 per 10,000)
• Also with 2 deaths and 1 injury, Delta Air Lines follows suit (0.52 per 10,000)
• Alaska Airline lost 1 animal, injured another and no deaths (0.26 per 10,000)

The other twelve carriers had no injuries, deaths or losses to report and for the third straight year in a row, United had the worst record compared to the competition.

Afer reviewing these reported incidences, it's difficult to ascertain if the animals in question died from natural causes, were injured due to neglect or some other preventable circumstance. Most airlines require animal owners to provide a certificate of health for their pet before prior to boarding, but these papers don't ensure their safety.

In an attempt to reduce losses and rebuild public trust, United recently made changes to their Pet Safe flying protocols that ban certain breeds of dogs and cats from boarding for their own safety. For example, short-nosed canines (known as Brachycephalic) like pugs, bulldogs and some terriers have been put on the no-fly list due to respiratory issues. Felines not allowed to fly fall into the Himalayan and Burmese families as they are known for behavioral and stress issues which put them at an added risk.

In the past, United Airlines briefly allowed servicemen and women traveling with companion animals to avoid certain restrictions, but not with new policies being put into place effective June 1, 2018. Military personnel will be subject to the same limitations as the general public when it comes to flying with their pets.

For example, new rules will limit the size of animal containers to less than 30" in height that will leave many large breeds like Great Danes grounded from their flights. Other bigger canines unable to board could include labradors, retrievers and a laundry list of other large dogs.

Under the new rules, pets will not be permitted on flights to and from Phoenix and Tuscon, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada or Palm Springs, California from May to September due to extreme temperatures. Flying overseas or internationally will also be disallowed and pets will be routed through International Pet and Animal Transportation Association services instead.

These new policies were adopted with the assistance of the American Humane Society and United spokesperson Charles Hobart commented, "We know that there are going to be folks that are going to be disappointed with these decisions however we think this is the right thing to do."

All of these new policies seem sound when it comes to the safety of our pets during aerial transport. Even if the other airlines don't employ these types of restrictions, animal owners should consider these decisions before making reservations and boarding with their beloved pets.

While some airlines allow pets to travel with their owners as carry-on luggage in certain situations inside approved containers, this is obviously a much safer place compared to the cargo hold of a jet. In any case, many problems can be avoided when airlines come to the realization that animals are not luggage or cargo but beloved pets and family members who should be treated as such.