Flying with pets

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sharls

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sharls
Here's a problem so many people out there are struggling with. Taking their larger dogs with them on vacations, business trips, and whatever else. All the major airlines allow only small dogs in carriers that would fit under a seat. Any pet larger than that would have to travel as a luggage. Are there any alternative means of flying more affordable than a private charter? Can still be expensive, but not $20k for 3 hours in flight. I really hate the idea of checking in my fur baby as a luggage.
Thanks!
 
sharls said:
Here's a problem so many people out there are struggling with. Taking their larger dogs with them on vacations, business trips, and whatever else. All the major airlines allow only small dogs in carriers that would fit under a seat. Any pet larger than that would have to travel as a luggage. Are there any alternative means of flying more affordable than a private charter? Can still be expensive, but not $20k for 3 hours in flight. I really hate the idea of checking in my fur baby as a luggage.
Thanks!
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You and the family could fly commercial and pay someone with a GA plane to fly the dog to your destination. That actually sounds like a good business opportunity and a nice hour builder :)
 
Yep. That one makes sense. What could be the best way to find someone for that? Would that put them in risk of being perceived as a commercial?
 
Anything out there along the lines of tagging along with cargo planes? From my research, this one specifically looks impossible, but may be some ideas out there I'm not aware of just for lack of knowledge.
 
Hector Parra said:
You and the family could fly commercial and pay someone with a GA plane to fly the dog to your destination. That actually sounds like a good business opportunity and a nice hour builder :)
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Be careful about that. The person with the GA airplane would be flying property for compensation and would be at risk of losing their pilot certificate.
 
In theory, this way, I may be able to fly with them, right?
 
sharls said:
In theory, this way, I may be able to fly with them, right?
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Not really. Would still fall under a commercial operation. Although there are legal ways around this.
 
dbahn said:
Be careful about that. The person with the GA airplane would be flying property for compensation and would be at risk of losing their pilot certificate.
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Couldn't the pilot charge a portion of the operational expenses to the pet owner? oil, fuel, etc, as per FAR 61.113?
 
Not sure what sort of demand there is for something like that. I always fly my rather large dog in our Cherokee but I'm the pilot and nobody pays me for it. However, if there is a large non-pilot demand for a service like that, this could be a great business idea for someone to start a "cargo" business, hire fresh CPL holders and fly dogs around the country. The pilots make money while building hours (great alternative to being a CFI or pipeline patrol), people with that need (dog parents) have an affordable solution and whoever starts that business makes bank. Having said that, I just don't know how much demand there is for a service like that to make it worthwhile starting a legal aviation business for that purpose. Plus, affordable is also relative here. The plane doesn't really care if it's a dog or person in there. It'll use the same amount of gas so at the end of the day, you could just charter a plane unless this business has frequently used routes and stuffs the plane with a bunch of dogs, going back and forth a few times a week e.g. NY to Florida. Like a dog airline of sorts.
 
As someone that very often takes commercial flights with a small cat, I feel your pain. Even with a cat, it is becoming next to impossible to find airlines that are happy to allow the pet in cabin for a transatlantic flight. And forget about business class, because most often pets are not allowed there either. For a three hour flight, I would probably just drive, unless flying with own plane was an option.
 
Can CPLs fly with passengers? Sorry, I'm all new to this. Signing up for school after new years exactly for dogs reasons haha

There's fairly large demand. Though in mainland US, there's a private airline that covers large part of the country (JSX). Not a lot of destinations, but they are close enough in covered part of the country to drive from an airport. As for the rest of it, if there's interested parties, I've got web development and online marketing know how :)

And even though affordability is relative, single prop is still so much cheaper than a jet.

p.s.
Anyone wants to make a run from PR to FL some time soon? :)
 
There has to be a way to catch that demand. I know a lot of folks who don't travel as much as they like because they don't want their pets to travel in the cargo area. Here in Canada only Service Dogs can travel in the cabin on commercial flights
 
Since this turned into the "dog on plane" thread - here is our Cotton ball giving me a kiss as a "thank you" for that smooth landing, as we were taxing to the ramp lol.
 

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sharls said:
Can CPLs fly with passengers? Sorry, I'm all new to this.
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The limitation has more to do with the operation of the aircraft rather than the rating of the pilot. The oversight that the FAA requires for the aircraft being used is very (usually prohibitively) expensive unless exercised on a high volume basis.
 
dbahn said:
The oversight that the FAA requires for the aircraft being used is very (usually prohibitively) expensive unless exercised on a high volume basis.
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This is right. That's why I'm questioning if there is enough demand to make it worthwhile. Sure there is demand, but is it enough to jump through the FAA hoops for a SEL or even MEL plane hauling pets around to be in compliance and remain in compliance with FAA commercial standards.
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
This is right. That's why I'm questioning if there is enough demand to make it worthwhile. Sure there is demand, but is it enough to jump through the FAA hoops for a SEL or even MEL plane hauling pets around to be in compliance and remain in compliance with FAA commercial standards.
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Could be a seasonal service that a local/regional cargo company could offer in association with a commercial airline. Say for big holidays like Thanksgiving. A Caravan could do the job
 
As a pilot that takes my Yorkie with the family flying 50% of the time, we find some trips it’s easier to leave him with a trusted dog sitter. We pay her handsomely, they enjoy him immensely, and best of all “Boots” has a better time with her 2 cats, 4 dogs, fenced yard, than caged trying to adapt to our uncertain plans. We feel the dog needs a vacation from us and visa a versa.
 
We used to bring Valentine the Wonder Rat with us in the Bo all the time - about 1.3 hours each way, and she handled it quite well. She'd jump right in and, as soon as we took off, she'd figure out, "Oh, this again," and curl up to nap. As soon as ae started down to land, she'd perk-up, stand looking out the window and maintained her vigil until we had landed.

Sadly, Val-O-Rat died, so now we just fly with cats (though less frequently); they do fine. One hides under the seat while the other finds a lap to curl-n-purr on.
 
I think I've got a much better idea. A "dog uber". You hire someone to drive your dog to wherever you need to go. You and the family fly commercial. The dog's trip will be longer, but probably more enjoyable than you'll have flying commercially. Less stress on the pet, probably less cost.
 
Don't need common purpose...single person, draw a contract, Is that not private carriage? I mean the OP approaches a commercial pilot, they negotiate a price, draw a contract up, and should be good to go. Nobody was holding out and fits AC 120-12A.
 
Racerx said:
Dogs family is somewhere warm. It's December in northern Illinois.
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That is the purpose for the dog. You have to have been going that way to start with.
 
simtech said:
Don't need common purpose...single person, draw a contract, Is that not private carriage? I mean the OP approaches a commercial pilot, they negotiate a price, draw a contract up, and should be good to go. Nobody was holding out and fits AC 120-12A.
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Based on the AC, you have to be VERY careful with that minefield. Your choice, but I would not do it.
 
Hector Parra said:
There has to be a way to catch that demand. I know a lot of folks who don't travel as much as they like because they don't want their pets to travel in the cargo area. Here in Canada only Service Dogs can travel in the cabin on commercial flights
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It's pretty easy to catch the demand. Accumulating reliable supply, routing automation, and customer service would the pain.
 
Pinecone said:
That is the purpose for the dog. You have to have been going that way to start with.
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You must not have been to northern Illinois in December. Anything is an excuse to leave at that point.

Jokes aside, wouldn't you basically just have to stay in the some place warm for a few days to prove you were "going on vacation" and the dog just happened to be going to where you were going, so you took it along? I guess if you were compensated for taking the dog, it would be a lot harder to make that argument maybe? Obviously, the best way to do it would be to get the proper certs and stuff, though.
 
SkyChaser said:
Obviously, the best way to do it would be to get the proper certs and stuff, though.
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And there's the rub. The "proper certs" are prohibitively expensive and can only be feasible with a high volume, high revenue operation on an ongoing basis, i.e. charter or similar.

The improper way is under the table, but who wants to risk their pilot certificate (and possibly a fine) for that????
 
Someone could always try organizing the dog version of Angle Flight. However, can’t say i see a long line of volunteers contributing time and resources for non-emergency canine transport. A single-pilot, one-airplane 135 operation flying a PA32 or BE36 would still be an expensive transport. How far the trip is can be a factor too.

I think the best short-term solution is board them, drive, or stay home. Next solution is get licensed as a pilot as soon as possible (like you are planning) then buy a Cherokee Six or similar right-sized airplane. Paying someone to ground transport your canine might end up looking relatively affordable after that exercise! But, GA can be your ticket if you wish.
 
TrueCourse said:
I think the best short-term solution is board them, drive, or stay home.
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Or just do a charter flight for the whole family. You'd already be paying to fly the dog-that was pointed out further up the thread. If only a couple is traveling, there might be zero additional cost to put them in the plane as well. A larger family would require a larger plane and drive up costs, but anyone considering booking a private flight for Fido has already decided to throw considerable money at the problem.
 
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