Pets in the Cabin - Coming soon on Virgin Australia

[RSVKanga]

I really don’t understand all the fuss regarding the animal in the event of an evacuation.

If you have a baby on an aircraft bassinet and you need to evacuate, you take the baby with you because it has a life, and you leave the bassinet behind. If you have an animal in a cage and you need to evacuate, you take the animal with you and leave the cage behind, because the animal, just like a baby, has a life. It’s really that simple.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Have you read the FAA advice I linked. pets in the cabin are considered carryon baggage and must obey all carryon regulations which means they must be left behind in an evacuation. Even a few seconds can mean life or death for some.
There are basically no wheelchairs in the cabin during flight. I am sure all competent airlines would have protocols for evacuating disabled passengers.
And sadly I think you are wrong to think it would be rare to have pets on board if an evacuation is needed. And though evacuations are rare in Australia no one knows when one might happen and happen it will at some time in the future.
So the bottom line is if you bring a pet onboard you are likely to lose that pet. If you take it with you in an evacuation you will be endangering other passengers. Are you prepared to live with the knowledge that you saved your pet and that may have well added to the human death toll.

That’s like asking whether the wheelchair passenger is prepared to live with the knowledge they may have added to the death toll, even if it’s the one or two crew who may be delayed leaving the aircraft while they assist that passenger. It’s a bit of a philosophical question.

If it’s not rare to have pets on board during an evacuation, what data do we have from flights in the US and Europe? Is the carriage of pets in the cabin actually an issue. Has it been a significant factor in the time taken to evacuate the aircraft?

If there’s a catastrophic event and you’re going to lose the let in the cabin, would you not have lost it anyway in the hold? You’d be left wondering whether you could have saved it if only it had been in the cabin.

 

[Pushka]

I always treat every flight as a potential emergency. In buildings I check for exits etc. as a matter of routine. Can't rely on someone else, with Pistol and Boo under each arm, to assist you. Offshore I'd run crew through fire emergency drills every Sunday. A fire in the moonpool, crash on the heli-deck, etc. On a plane you should have some idea which way you are going to exit even if you don't have skills for anything other than an escape.

Face it, there are alot of special people in Australia.

I do too. Which is why shoes are always during seat belt times. And so on.

Post automatically merged: Mar 10, 2024

I really don’t understand all the fuss regarding the animal in the event of an evacuation.

If you have a baby on an aircraft bassinet and you need to evacuate, you take the baby with you because it has a life, and you leave the bassinet behind. If you have an animal in a cage and you need to evacuate, you take the animal with you and leave the cage behind, because the animal, just like a baby, has a life. It’s really that simple.

Seriously? oh good luck with that

That’s like asking whether the wheelchair passenger is prepared to live with the knowledge they may have added to the death toll, even if it’s the one or two crew who may be delayed leaving the aircraft while they assist that passenger. It’s a bit of a philosophical question.

If it’s not rare to have pets on board during an evacuation, what data do we have from flights in the US and Europe? Is the carriage of pets in the cabin actually an issue. Has it been a significant factor in the time taken to evacuate the aircraft?

If there’s a catastrophic event and you’re going to lose the let in the cabin, would you not have lost it anyway in the hold? You’d be left wondering whether you could have saved it if only it had been in the cabin.

I really think the comparison between human life and pets is absurd. And again, I love pets. Just not above humans although sometimes they are preferable.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I really think the comparison between human life and pets is absurd. And again, I love pets. Just not above humans although sometimes they are preferable.

Different mindsets

I love my pets just as much as the humans in my life. They are part of the family. There are people who will risk their lives… even lost their lives… trying to save pets. And if you look at some of the land-based evacuations we’ve had during the floods in Australia, emergency services will often reduce pets alongside their owners. Even though that time could, in theory, be used to rescue other people.

For many, they may feel a pet is the only companionship they truly have. Plenty of stories with the current cost of living pressures where people are going without food themselves so they can feed their pets.

 

[drron]

I really don’t understand all the fuss regarding the animal in the event of an evacuation.

If you have a baby on an aircraft bassinet and you need to evacuate, you take the baby with you because it has a life, and you leave the bassinet behind. If you have an animal in a cage and you need to evacuate, you take the animal with you and leave the cage behind, because the animal, just like a baby, has a life. It’s really that simple.

So airline regulations are something you can ignore and break those that you don't agree with.

 

[prozac]

So airline regulations are something you can ignore and break those that you don't agree with.

After 3 days in the life raft you are going to want something to eat.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So airline regulations are something you can ignore and break those that you don't agree with.

I don’t think any contravention of the regulations in this case would be wilful and deliberate, it would be instinctive. Not sure you can attach a penalty to that.

 

[Pushka]

I don’t think any contravention of the regulations in this case would be wilful and deliberate, it would be instinctive. Not sure you can attach a penalty to that.

Yeah. Think you can especially if a human was negatively impacted by your decisions.

 

[justinbrett]

I don’t think any contravention of the regulations in this case would be wilful and deliberate, it would be instinctive. Not sure you can attach a penalty to that.

So basically pet owners can't be trusted to do the right thing, so let's prevent that situation from occurring in the first place.

 

[prozac]

Yes and there will be exceptions but not the rule.

Congratulations @hydrabyss on 1,000 posts!

 

[OZDUCK]

The wife of a friend from years ago is blind and they always knew, and were reminded, that in case of an evacuation she would not be assisted by the crew until everybody else was off the plane. They happily flew, always together, with that caveat. Of course if everybody else is blinded by smoke she might have an advantage.

 

[prozac]

The wife of a friend from years ago is blind and they always knew, and were reminded, that in case of an evacuation she would not be assisted by the crew until everybody else was off the plane. They happily flew, always together, with that caveat. Of course if everybody else is blinded by smoke she might have an advantage.

Marco, ... polo ...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So basically pet owners can't be trusted to do the right thing, so let's prevent that situation from occurring in the first place.

CASA approved it. Hopefully after a review of the available data to indicate the risks.

 

[justinbrett]

CASA approved it. Hopefully after a review of the available data to indicate the risks.

CASA has removed the prohibition of it; but the specific implementation by VA has not yet been approved, and I'll bet VA will be required to remind owners that their pets are considered luggage and must be left behind in the event of an emergency evacuation, as per the FAA's rules now.

 

[JohnK]

Totally agree 100%

I have a deep rooted dog phobia. If Virgin really do go ahead with this I will be racing back to Qantas with my tail between my legs. Pun intended.

My daughter loves dogs but she gets scared when she sees dogs in public and her first instinct is to run away screaming.

 

[bullerdude]

Family has always had pets and we love them… but not a fan of seeing pets in cabins.

Allergies, kids being scared of dogs, barking and noise, pets needing to relive themselves… to repeat a few things already said on the thread, are just more things to make flying even more uncomfortable.

Yes, I get that the same can be said for people vomiting, kids causing issues etc. but don’t see the need to add pets to the list of issues.

Have been near guide dogs before and while they are always well behaved, it doesn’t stop the smells. I’m always thankful not to be the person in the next seat sharing their limited space with large dog (usually a Labrador). Guide dogs are of course a reality I would think most of us are willing to accept (I certainly do) given their vital role of assisting the vision impaired; I’d probably extend this to support/therapy dogs that are properly trained and registered.

General pets that are probably not trained and not used to such environments… just no.

 

[prozac]

My daughter loves dogs but she gets scared when she sees dogs in public and her first instinct is to run away screaming.

If anything runs a predator instinctively sees it as prey and will chase it down.

 

[RSVKanga]

Will the carry-on animals be allowed to roam freely in the VA lounges?

 

[hydrabyss]

Will the carry-on animals be allowed to roam freely in the VA lounges?

They already do, oh you mean the pets in carry bags. My bad.

 

[Balus1]

Will the carry-on animals be allowed to roam freely in the VA lounges?

They are building a Palocity Lounge from what I heard from a friend of a friend.