Has anyone ever had a problem, specifically on NW, taking their pet out of their carrier during their flight? On our last flight my little boy, for some reason unknown to me, got very nervous and started to whine. Rather than incur the wrath of the flight attendents I kept him in his kennel and tried to calm him down. I had set the carrier between my husband and myself - we were in first class so there was plenty of room - and almost immediately the attendent came by and told me to return the kennel to the floor. I did so, he continued to whine and we were both miserable. Has anyone else had any experience with this? I assumed that since I had paid the pet fee and the kennel was counted as a carry one I could remove it from under the seat as you can with any other carry on and stow it only during take off and landing.
nam,
Sorry your little guy was miserable, but unfortunately the rules for travelling with a pet in the cabin do state that the carrier must remain completely closed and under the seat in front of you the entire time. I can see where pulling it on our the floor between your seats probably wouldn't be a problem, but the biggest problem the airlines encounter is people that unzip the carrier "just a little bit" so they can pet their animal or give it something to eat or drink. You would be surprised how that little taste of freedom and small route of escape can quickly escalate into a pet being completely out of the carrier and on the loose. I've seen it several times! The majority of the pets I've seen in the cabin have been very well behaved, but there are also many that don't do well in strange surroundings with lots of noise and people they don't know. There have been instances of pets getting loose and biting and scratching people and also relieving themselves (again, probably out of fright). One time we had asked someone several times to secure their pet carrier, but the little dog eventually got loose and unfortunately found a little opening on the floor in the ventilation system and disappeared. When the flight landed maintenance had to come on and basically rip up the lower sidewalls trying to find the lost pooch. They did find him none the worse for wear, but it made the airplane take a long delay and inconvenienced lots of people.
I love animals, all shapes and sizes, but when they're on the airplane they do have to stay put in their little habitat.
