A new airline designed solely for pets will give cats and dogs their first in-cabin flights — sans owners — on Tuesday.
BWI and airports in New York, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles are the first markets to be serviced by Pet Airways.
“It’s a first-class pet sitting experience in the sky,” said Pet Airways spokeswoman Alyse Pognotti.
One-way tickets begin at $149, but the average cost — based on animal size and destination — tends to be around $250. Sorry, no owners are allowed on board, Pognotti said.
Pet owners can book the weekly flights out of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport at petairways.com, but tickets already are sold out through August. The airline plans to offer more flights in the fall and expand service to 25 additional cities within the next two years.
Owners drop off their pets in the airline’s lounge located in BWI’s general aviation facility — which is separate from the main terminal — said BWI spokesman Jonathon Dean. No carriers are necessary — just a leash and some health records from the vet, Pognotti said.
For their people, that means no more airport security checks with Whiskers in tow and no more pitiful cries from Buster as he and 20 suitcases are wheeled off to cargo together.
To be clear, though, first-class flying for Fido doesn’t include a comfy recliner or complimentary catnip. Instead, animals travel in hard plastic pet carriers stacked on top of each other lining the cabin walls.
But pets on test flights rather enjoyed the ride, Pognotti said.
“The plane goes up and they are meowing and barking, not really knowing what’s going on yet,” she said. “And then, I don’t know what it is…maybe the sound of the cabin is soothing…but they all just become very tranquil, and fall right asleep.”
Pet Airways gutted seats and overhead compartments from 19-passenger airplanes to accommodate 50 animal “pawsengers,” Pognotti said.
One pet attendant tends to the animals throughout the flight, and even can provide intermittent “potty breaks.”
Dogs and cats are currently the only animals allowed on board, but Pognotti said the airline plans on adding more species to the list within the next two years. Topping the list of requests are birds, guinea pigs, and oddly enough — fish, she said.
Currently, some airlines provide cabin access for smaller pets flying with their owners and cargo access for larger pets. Of the 2 million animals who fly in cargo each year, about 5,000 are injured, according to the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“We encourage people not to have their pets travel via the cargo hold,” said Adam Goldfarb of the U.S. Humane Society. The cargo area is “not always as well regulated as far as temperature goes,” he said, and “there is no one there to supervise them or address problems should they arise.”
