I had to get a new cat carrier the other day so that I could take all three of the critters to the vet at the same time. The new one is one of those nylon ones that zips closed both on top and on the end and has a shoulder strap. It came with paper work that claims it is "guaranteed on-board" for air travel. Apparently, with this particular carrier, as long as you follow all the rules, you will be able to carry your pet as one of your carry on's if he / she is small enough to fit in one of the Sherpa Pet Group carriers offered. I've seen people settle in on a plane before with this exact carry on sliding it under the seat in front of them. The information that came with the carrier details that the pet MUST remain in the carrier at all times and the carrier MUST remain under the seat in front of you at all times. Those seem to be the major rules for in flight.
There is also a form that must be completed by your vet no less than 10 days prior to travel. There is a pet travel fee that you have to pay. (I guess this gets Fluffy his boarding pass.) You have to carry his "boarding pass" along with all of your travel documents to get through the TSA checkpoints and then on to your flight. I've never seen a pet going through TSA. I assume they allow you to carry it and don't stick it on the conveyor to be x-ray'd but I'm not certain. Surely they don't run it through the x-ray machine. But I would hope that they would take the pet out and check the carrier to make sure you aren't attempting to smuggle a full size can of mousse through. (Damn, no wonder people who carry their pets on vacation always have great hair!)
For details on traveling with your pet using one of these carriers, visit their website http://www.flygob.com which contains details by airline. They also sell stuff on their site. If you want a camo Duck Dynasty tee shirt for your furry four legged child, this is the site to visit. If you would like to see the exact carrier I got it is on the website. Mine is the Sherpa Original Deluxe, here is a picture of Shiner in it on the day I got it... before he realized that a short 18 hours later, it would be used to take him to the vet. Now I'll be lucky to ever get him in in it again. When I brought it home before he realized it was meant to transport him to the vets office, he climbed in and took a nap.
As I said, I've seen people using these for air travel before. Most recently, when my niece and I returned from New York the lady across the aisle from me had a dog in one. The dog never whimpered, yapped, barked or whined the entire flight. If it were mine, I would have been checking to make sure it was still breathing. It was better than any child I've ever been on a flight with and better than many of the adults.
On the other hand, once during a flight to Key West, the couple behind us had a small dog in a carrier on board. I can't tell you for sure if it was one of these carriers since I never saw it. In fact, I didn't know they had brought a dog on board until we were taking off. This was the smaller commuter flight that went from Atlanta to Key West. The couple with the dog was in the back row, we were just in front of them and there was no row across the aisle from them. The flight attendant sat next to the couple with the dog during take off and landing. The dog obviously was not fond of traveling and whimpered somewhat. So the flight attendant and the elderly couple traveling with the dog talked about it as we were taking off.
The lady continually tried to calm the dog down throughout the flight. It was obvious from the conversation and noise behind us that the dog was not under the seat the entire flight. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was out of it's carrier for a portion of the flight. When the little old lady had to go to the lavatory, her husband apparently didn't realize how this would effect the dog and the dog began crying VERY loudly and continued until the woman came back and soothed it. All in all, it still wasn't as loud or upsetting as an angry 2 year old child on a flight. The elderly couple talked to the flight attendant about their winter home in the Keys and said that they take the dog with them there every year for the winter. They were from somewhere in the Northeast. If I remember correctly, they said that the dog was old too. So I'm sure that the three of them got along well in the warmth of the Keys in the winter. This was the most demonstrative I've ever seen a dog be on an airplane and still it was not bad.
I fully believe that I could travel with Shiner in one of these carriers on an airplane (once I got him in and doused myself in Mercurochrome to cover the scratches and bite marks). Once you get him in his carrier, he is always quietly calm. Or at least he seems calm to the casual observer. But I know that this is just how he reacts when he is frightened. He gets very quiet hoping that if he is quiet enough, I'll forget he is there and he won't get a shot when we reach our destination. I know and understand this tact. I think I employed it once or twice myself while I was a young child during a visit to the doctors office. It didn't work for me either.
Jingle would be a whole different story. There is no sound in the world more awful than Jingle once he has been put in a cat carrier. If I ever attempted to carry Jingle on an airplane in one of these things, one of two things would happen. Either, we would be told immediately upon entering the gate area to get that spawn of Satan OUT OF THE AIRPORT NOW! Or I along with Jingle and a skeleton crew would be the only people on my flight since everyone else would immediately decide to change flights, change fees be damned!
Jingle has the most amazingly horrific meow anyone has ever heard when he is distressed and the cat knows how to employ it. It can become deafening at times. I wish I had a recording to share with you. I have listened to this noise for long periods of time on a number of occasions, most recently the last time I took him to my parents house. He is relentless with it. You think that you'll be able to outlast him. Even children wear themselves out and fall to sleep after a few hours of constant loud crying. But Jingle has stamina. He has lasted upwards of 5 hours before. It is constant until he gets his way. The other day I was at the vets office with the new kitten who decided that she should climb my leg. It hurt so I immediately bent over and scooped her up and began petting her as I continued talking to the vet. He stopped me, took the cat away from me and put her back on the ground and said, "You can do that, but I don't recommend rewarding her bad behaviour by holding and petting her". He was right of course. But over the years, Jingle has trained me. Now if one of my cats wants something, I immediately give it to them in fear that a loud incessant cry from hell will begin to spew from their mouths. My bad!
So yeah, I don't think Jingle would never be allowed on an airplane without a lot of drugs either for him or the other passengers and crew. The more I think about it the more I think that air travel for pets should probably be limited to dogs - small, well behaved dogs. Have a great Tuesday and I will attempt the same.
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