Pets in the Cabin - Coming soon on Virgin Australia

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Happy Dude said:
I reckon this would be rather popular, especially if there's no cost or a low cost, particularly with domestic vacationers, as it could mean avoiding kennelling ($30+/day these days).

I'm allergic to cats but only if I actually touch them which is unlikely to occur. Nonetheless, I hope the "designated rows" are down the back. There may cultural or religious implications for some too, so there'd need to be a way to ensure adequate segregation.
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Where can I get kenneling for $30 per day, I just spent 5 days kenneling for two under 10kg dogs for a grand total of $550 and didn’t include additional costs of a wash and blow dry, medication administration or play in the slash park to cool them down. It certainly can get expensive and be over $100 per day per dog if you wanted to spend that.

I am still not sure I want to take them on a plane (they are behaved) and holiday with them.
 
MARTINE said:
Exactly!!
I fully get when I travel overseas I respect the culture of where I visit and abide by the rules.
We were the first to get rid of public smoking here and on /trains/airports/restaurants - irrespective of what was happening overseas.
I am yet to see an American trend I wish to follow
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Off-topic but I gave up smoking 20+ years ago and maybe less than 12 months later smoking was banned indoors. Fantastic.

Thailand you can still smoke in restaurants. Try having a drink or a meal with the cigarette odour everywhere. Not pleasant at all. The social golf club I visit is the same. They have an open front part of the bar/restaurant and that where I sit and it's OK but still not great.

Just because it's done overseas does not mean we need to follow suit.
 
JohnK said:
Off-topic but I gave up smoking 20+ years ago and maybe less than 12 months later smoking was banned indoors. Fantastic.

Thailand you can still smoke in restaurants. Try having a drink or a meal with the cigarette odour everywhere. Not pleasant at all. The social golf club I visit is the same. They have an open front part of the bar/restaurant and that where I sit and it's OK but still not great.

Just because it's done overseas does not mean we need to follow suit.
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Agree with the last sentence.

But the comparison with overseas is not that we need to ‘catch up’, or ‘copy’, it’s simply to show that none of the issues raised are new, and they obviously aren’t a problem, otherwise with all the experience they’ve had they would have banned it by now.

People carry pets in containers that fit under the seat, they take the pet to the toilet before boarding, pets aren’t running around the cabin wee’ing, pooing and biting people, airports manage security, people with allergies are on every flight that carries a pet, and any negative instances apparently haven’t outweighed the overall benefit to the airline.

The only real issue is pets during an emergency. Owners are supposed to leave all cabin baggage during an evacuation. We’d need to see data on how this operates in real life. And pets are just one of the dozen or so factors that could slow an evacuation.
 
For comparison, while booking AY flights, checked out what they say about pets.

Making a dummy booking HEL-CPH, a pet in the cabin costs 60€ (~$100 AUD) and they take max two carriers in Y per flight, max two pets per carrier and one carrier only per pax. The size requirements for the carriers are tight, max height 20-23 cm only, max weight 8 kg. They are usually seated at the rear of the cabin, though in my dummy booking I was able to try that on row 7.

AY Travelling with pets
 
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Do I have to pet the pooch sitting next to me, or introduce myself if he/she decides that s/he needs a person to lean on?
Some dogs are very friendly, and will look soulfully at everyone.
Hey, maybe talking/speaking with a dog on a flight is better than having to bear with religious peoples on a flight!
 
AustraliaPoochie said:
Do I have to pet the pooch sitting next to me, or introduce myself if he/she decides that s/he needs a person to lean on?
Some dogs are very friendly, and will look soulfully at everyone.
Hey, maybe talking/speaking with a dog on a flight is better than having to bear with religious peoples on a flight!
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You won't be able to touch the pooch as it will be in a cage. The cage will be under the seat in front of the pooch's travelling companion.

Moreover, pooch can be no bigger than the size of a loaf of bread.
 
Most likely, passengers will not leave the pet onboard during an emergency, regardless of any rules.
 
DC3 said:
Most likely, passengers will not leave the pet onboard during an emergency, regardless of any rules.
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Sadly that’s true.
If you aren’t prepared to let your pet perish in case of emergency you probably shouldn’t be taking them onboard IMO
 
AustraliaPoochie said:
Ah, oh, so it won't like the US system, where a labrador can be bought a seat, ... (wry grin), sorry, had to say that!
Like their ESA, (emergency support animal).
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That’s been made clear from the start. Only pets in an appropriate carrier that can be placed under the seat in front.

It did appear to get out of hand in the US, but I believe they’ve pulled back now on the carriage of ‘support’ animals. They need to be certified or registered or something these days.
 
Harry_Moses said:
I am thinking that it is just an idea the airline has been asked for many times - the implementing of it will in part be determined by the response from the general public. They would have to be the smallest cats and dogs on the planet to be able to fit in any carrier that would actually fit under the seat in front. Allergies are one consideration, but so are issues surrounding genuine service dogs and any issues that may present when "fluffy" just magically escapes its crate, how domestic pets will actually "behave" at 30,000 feet - what if another passenger gets bitten or scratched, any passenger that gets assigned a seat alongside a passenger with a fur companion and doesn't wish to consume their meal with animals present, what the reaction will be from Biosecurity Detector dogs that work in the terminal space, whether these pets must remain in their crates until they are completely through the airport arrival process, what happens to escaping pets in pick-up areas or terminal car parks. Who will actually "police" the whole issue to ensure passengers travelling with onboard pets remain compliant and keep them in the crate? There are hundreds of issues to consider - sounds like a fun idea to begin with but the logistics of it are a nightmare. And in the vast majority of cases it will not be the animal that is the issue, it will be the owner. Pets travel extraordinarily well in the cargo hold - probably best to just leave them where they are safe and secure.
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I have had a friend's small dog die in the hold of a plane. It was so traumatic. There is no way I will ever put my dog there.
 
p--and--t said:
FYI: Passengers die in the cabins of aircraft at the average rate of 1-2 per week.
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Usually through a previous health condition I would expect. If a percentage of people die every minute then with the amount of people flying I would expect some to pass away while flying. Then even more on long haul over short.
 
hydrabyss said:
Usually through a previous health condition I would expect. If a percentage of people die every minute then with the amount of people flying I would expect some to pass away while flying. Then even more on long haul over short.
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Yep and pets have undiagnosed health conditions as well. Could die in the hold, the cabin or on the ground.
 

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