Dogs traveling with us via airline in cabin

Greetings dog lovers,
Seeking advice/things to consider when traveling with dogs in the airline cabin. The trip goes from San Diego to Glacier Park area of Montana--winter trip.

Our 10-year-old cairns have never traveled in a plane and we are weighing the option of 2 1/2 days in a car (1400 miles each way) versus 4-5 hour airline trip(one way), with plane change in Salt Lake City/brief stopover. Air travel is obviously very quick, but we don't have a clue of the affect of air travel on our dogs.

They would be in cabin with us -- we will not check them via baggage with the airline and it's too cold this time of year for the airline to check them regardless. We travel on Delta & have the information on appropriate soft
container/carriers.

Your sage advice is appreciated. :D

Well all the dogs I shipped were by Delta. The reason is that they have pressure cabins in the " cargo hold" so the dogs didnt get too cold etc. If they small, each of you could take one dog and carry on with you to be under your seats. ( mine were too big obviously). Try delta first. Remember they can NOT wear metal id's and ask the steward to bring water to give the dogs. Try for a direct flight- but if carry on, you can just move flight to flight. While the dogs have to be in crates, several trips I found people are curious and the stewards, and dont even care if you take them out to sit in your laps. If you need anymore help, pm me..

As long as your dogs are thoroughly familiar and comfortable in their carriers and have had sufficient opportunity to pee and poo before the flight they should do just fine and sleep through the trip.

Taking them out of the carriers during the flight wouldn't be a good idea. They could have an accident or be somewhat overwhelmed by finding themselves in the midst of so many strangers. We must always remember too that not all passengers are pet lovers.

Flying would probably be a whole lot more enjoyable than a 2 1/2 day car trip and a lot easier on the little guys!

I have a friend that is a new press reporter and she has a maltese, and takes her little dog out all the time during a flight. If you dog is socialized, they would be fine. Benny curls up on her owners lap like he owns the place.

Temperature restrictions for dogs traveling in airliners are due to temperatures in the airline's cargo terminal (for the most part unregulated), not the aircraft. The entire aircraft is pressurised, not just the passenger compartment.

If your pups have to travel as checked bags I wouldn't worry about it as long as they are familiar with their carriers.

I have flown my youngest dog from Tampa, FL to Salt Lake City, UT before.
She did fine - however, I did not. I was a nervous wreck the whole time. If I had the money to drive versus fly, I would drive in a heartbeat.

If you do decide to fly, I would only fly Delta with pets. I can't find it at the moment but the ASPCA once sent a newsletter with the number of deaths/injuries of pets on airlines. Delta was the ONLY airline without and reports of deaths/injuries.

Also, I was very upset with how some airports handle their pets. When I arrived in SLC, the dog crates were just pushed out by baggage. No on was there to make sure the dogs were okay, no one was there to make sure whoever was taking the dog was their actual owner.
A bulldog puppy, who I am assuming was from a breeder being shipped (I couldn't imagine doing that) sat buy his/herself for a good hour or so, and even after I had left he was still there.


Anyways, please just be very careful. Like I said, If I could afford to I'd chose driving over flying ANY day, with pets atleast.



*edit* I am sorry, I misread your post and realize they will be in the cabin with you. If I had that choice, I'd have no problem. The flight overall didn't seem to bother my dog. However, circumstances bothered me. I'd feel much safer with them in the cabin but cannot since my dogs are larger dogs.

There are also some natural remedies you can use to calm them and make the flight more relaxing. You may want to look into those. :)

Welcome to Pet Talk, by the way!

I like Delta too.

Thank you all your posts are thoughtful & helpful. I think we are the ones who will worry more than our boys.

We may need to consider Alaska Air next, as Skywest only allows 1 dog in the cabin per flight. The final leg of the trip is small plane/small jet or prop & is typically the noisiest one...