Flying with A Small Dog

Posted on Feb 07 in Small Dog Care, Small Dog Travelby Jeff K.Print

As you may know from reading the About Jeff page at this website, I spend a good bit of my time as a pilot flying for a major airline. I have a special view of air travel with pets. I am not a supporter of air travel for small dogs, but I am not dead set against it either. If you have an option to leave your small dog at home, I strongly recommend you do so. Traveling by car, if possible, is also a better option. If you have no choice but to take your dog along on an airplane, here are the issues to consider.

You have two options when transporting your small dog by air. You can either transport your dog in the cabin in a carry-on case or you can check your dog in as cargo. There are many restrictions for each option.

Carry-on Pup

If you carry your small dog in a carry-on case, the case must but low profile enough to fit under the passenger seat in front of your seat. The vertical space below most mainline passenger seats is only 10 inches high. The vertical clearance below regional jet passenger seats is typically smaller. This means almost every breed of small dog will have no standing room when packed into a carry-on case. Your dog must remain completely enclosed in his carry-on case from the time you enter the airport jetway to the aircraft, until you exit the jetway after the flight. The inability to stand up should not be a huge deal if your flight, including delays, is two hours or less.

Your dog must remain absolutely quiet while on the aircraft. I have seen airline captains direct passengers to be removed from flights because they could not get their dogs to remain quiet. Additionally, your dog must be able to control his bladder and bowels for the entire time he is on board and in the airport. Most airports do not have any area inside or outside for a dog to relieve itself. One notable exception is Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport which has a dog walk area just outside the main terminal. At Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, I recently saw a passenger place his Dachshund in the dirt of one of the airport’s large indoor plant containers so the dog could relieve himself. It worked, but the man would have been in a world of hurt had he been caught by airport security.

If you carry your dog on board, the carry-on case is considered part of your carry-on bag allotment, which for most airlines is limited to one bag. There is also a significant cost for carrying a dog on board. Here are the latest rates, (as of February 7, 2009,) for the major airlines:

Delta and Northwest: $150
United: $175
American: $100
US Airways: $100

Cargo Dog

If you check your dog in as cargo hold baggage, there are many, many restrictions. Check with your airline for specifics. Here are the big ones:

No flat-faced or snub-nosed dogs are allowed in the cargo area when the weather is warm. This is because the airlines have been advised breeds with flattened noses have a harder handing high temperatures.

All airliner cargo compartments are temperature controlled once the cargo doors are closed. While on the ground with the door open, a cargo compartment has little to no air flow and is generally as hot as or hotter than the outside air temperature. Temperatures on airport parking areas tend to be higher than average because of the additive effect of hot pavement and jet exhaust. Most airlines will not accept any dogs in the cargo compartment during late spring through early fall because of the hazards of exposure to seasonally high temperatures.

Each small dog must be contained in an airline approved, hard-shell kennel. The websites for each airline provide guidance on kennel requirements.

Dogs transported in the cargo compartment must arrive at the airport early enough to allow the airline to manage loading of the kennel. In general, kennels will be the last items loaded and the first items unloaded off an airliner. This procedure minimizes the amount of time the dog has to spend in the cargo compartment.

Costs for cargo transport also vary by airline. Here are the latest domestic rates (as of February 7, 2009):

Delta and Northwest: $275
United: $250
American: $150
US Airways: No pets in the cargo compartments at any time except on the Boston-D.C.-La Guardia Shuttles.

Rates will be higher for international travel, and many destinations restrict or prohibit the transport of pets.

Finally, here are some special considerations that I believe make transporting a dog in an airline cargo compartment a bad idea:

1. Unless your dog is deaf and indifferent to vibration and turbulence, riding in a cargo compartment can be terrifying. The cargo hold is full of strange and sudden noises. An aircraft in flight rocks and bumps in ways your dog has probably never experienced. All this happens inside a dark tunnel filled with bumping, creaking, shifting luggage and boxes.
2. The cargo hold, while pressurized, experiences pressure changes to the same degree as the passenger cabin. Rapid pressure changes are a foreign sensation for your dog.
3. The cargo hold has less than 1% humidity, the same as a passenger cabin. If your dog has breathing problems, they will be exacerbated by the conditions in the hold.
4. During flight, temperatures in the cargo hold vary from 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the aircraft model. Many small dogs are susceptible to chilling in cool temperatures. Placing a coat or sweater on your small dog is generally not advisable if the departure or arrival airport’s outside air temperature will be warm.
5. Even before your dog is placed in the cargo hold, he is exposed to a jarring and extremely noisy ride out to the airplane’s parking area. The airlines do not place your dog on the airport’s luggage conveyor system. They drive your dog’s kennel out to the jet on a towed luggage trolley with no shock absorbers. Some dog-loving cargo handlers will place the dog’s kennel on the seat of their tug to minimize the bone-jarring bumps.
6. As I mentioned earlier, your dog’s kennel will be the last item loaded so your dog will spend as little time as possible in the cargo hold before the door is closed. This means your dog may spend 30 minutes or more exposed to the noise and commotion on the ramp before the flight. It is so loud on the airport’s parking areas that all personnel working out there must wear ear protection, such as ear plugs or hard ear muffs to protect against hearing loss.

Here is a summary of taking your dog along on a flight. In my opinion, it is extremely stressful for your dog and it is expensive. From the time you enter the airport at the beginning of the trip until you exit the airport at the end, there will be no opportunity to remedy any problem or discomfort your dog may experience. If your dog becomes overly stressed or ill before, during or after the flight, the airline is under no obligation to do anything for your dog other than transport it. During my walk-around preflight of the jet, I have never seen a dog waiting to be loaded that looked calm and happy to be there. There are ways to reduce the risks and stress for your dog. Your veterinarian can provide some advice. The airlines provide basic guidance on pet travel.

Your dog cannot tell you what his experience was like on board an airliner so we will never know for sure whether air travel for dogs is a good idea. From my viewpoint, anything other than air travel is a better choice for your small dog. I could be over-estimating the situation or I could be under estimating it. It is your call.

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• Flying with A Small Dog | A Small Dog | vacationchartering.com says:

  February 7, 2009 at 9:13 pm

  [...] Flying with A Small Dog | A Small Dog [...]
• A Small Dog in Quarantine says:

  April 8, 2009 at 3:00 pm

  [...] Assuming you still want to go through with shipping your dog to another country or even overseas to a U.S. island state or territory, consider the journey from your dog’s viewpoint. Unless you have access to a blue-water yacht, or you are driving to Canada or Mexico, you will likely have to transport your dog by airplane. I have already written an article on the trials and tribulations of transporting a dog by air, which you can find here. [...]