My husband was able to get his 22 pound bundle of love in a soft sided carrier to come her on the plane from Vancouver. But she wasn't really able to move around like she should have been able to but what choice is there? It was that or a larger carrier and in cargo. So we sedated her so she would sleep most the way and away she went. The only tricky part was when they wanted her to go through the x-ray machine. Brian had to open the carrier to prove it was a cat. Even though you could see through the mesh sides.