DL to stop accepting pets as checked luggage 3/1/16
 

Posted on Delta News Hub here.

Can still bring pets on board or shipped via Delta Cargo (but not guaranteed to be on the pax flight).

My guess is the liability is just too great. One lost pet and it makes the rounds on TV and the internet. And that's still when they can find the pet alive eventually. When a pet dies it's even worse.

Probably better for everyone involved (not more convenient but safer) to have them shipped as cargo by people who are much more adept to safely handle live animals as opposed to the regular baggage guys.

I see many, many more "emotional support animals" in our future.

:rolleyes:

Yes, sort of like the PBI Effect. Once a flight lands at PBI those passengers with wheelchair requests have been miraculously healed and can sprint off the plane.

Ah, yes, "Miracle Flights." Long flights to Asia seem to cure a lot of people, too.

Maybe it needs to get worse before it gets better.

The airlines hands are tied by ADA, and they aren't going to risk a violation to prevent someone from bringing their St. Bernard/ Great Dane mix, even if they think it's a scam.

It's going to have to get to the point that regulators are personally inconvenienced by having to share their leg space with an ES Pony before there are stricter guidelines one who can take what animal on planes.

The problem is that the passengers victimized by the ES scam need to complain too. DOT's office of civil rights needs to hear from people with allergies, people with kids who are traumatized by an animal and so on.

Particularly helpful when the writer can state that the individual was joking about it or otherwise suggesting that it was a scam.

Cargo is handled in many stations by the exact same people...and loaded almost everywhere by the same people.

As much as this inconveniences people, this is a smart idea. As a retired ramp supv, I had to paperwork on D.O.A. animals. It doesn't happen often (thankfully) and there's a definitive correlation to length of flight and mortality rate.

Of ones that were autopsied (yes, they can autopsy dogs): Most of the time it's because the owner over-sedated them before the flight.

It's quite scary in the cargo bin for a dog. It's completely dark, there's thousands of unknown smells in there with you, it's noisy, bumpy and you're all alone...or worse there's another unknown dog in there with you...

Many (smart) owners would put food/water on the top of their crate (with instructions) so that we (the people who smash your bags) could feed them if they had a long layover somewhere. People would also put leashes and instructions on there, but after we had one get loose, we weren't allowed to let them out. Chasing a dog on the ramp is not fun. :)

Yes, but much airline cargo, believe it or not, actually goes by truck and not aircraft.

Nevermind... actually read the article. Pets as checked bags anyway didn't make much sense.

Cargo will drop off and pick up animals at the a/c but regular ramp agents still on-load and offload from the plane. And to MSPGabe's point I bet at smaller airports it could be the same group of people that handle ramp and cargo.

For pets as checked baggage, since as early as last summer, Delta's required:

• animals not be sedated
• animals have enough food and water secured to the kennel for the entire journey
• animals be able to stand erect and turn around comfortably in the kennel

Partly Dept. of Agriculture regulation, partly Delta limiting bad PR.

I've only denied an animal as checked baggage twice: once because the owners didn't have any food for the animal (flying cross-country), and once because the animal was too large for the kennel. Most owners are good and take the time to check these things on delta.com.

We used to travel with our dogs a lot -- we were actively showing dogs at shows all over the country. We stopped doing that when it became more expensive to check the dog than to buy own ticket. You have to be smart about it, avoiding connections whenever possible, avoiding hot & humid weather. As others have stated -- don't sedate your dogs. You also need high end crates, not the cheap stuff that fails easily letting your dog escape.

Word will get out and everyone involved in the sport of pure bred dogs will boycott Delta. AKC Judges, AKC Staff, Handlers, Owners, and anyone else with a strong connection to the sport.

Assuming Delta has done the math and is content to lose that entire cohort of clients then it may be a great decision for them. Or maybe not.

I doubt that'll even register as a blip.