Pets fly in style on own airline
Locals use New York hub for now
By Jessica Fargen | Sunday, August 16, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Local pet owners are forking over hundreds of dollars so their cats and canines can coast in comfort on the country’s first animal-only airline - which promises regular potty breaks, dog biscuits and even window seats for Rover.
At least a dozen Boston-area pet owners have used Pet Airways to fly their furry ones in and out of Long Island - its nearest location to the Hub - since it launched just a few weeks ago. The company says it hopes to expand service directly to Massachusetts soon.
“I thought it was the best thing ever,” said Mary Rae Woodford of Abington, who paid $315 to fly a rescued Bernese mountain dog from Illinois on Pet Airways, which for now has a small footprint at five regional airports near New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.
Woodford and her fiance had planned to drive to Illinois to pick up their newly adopted pooch - Barbie - because they felt other transport options were inhumane.
Continental Airlines offers a climate-controlled cargo area for companion creatures, but Barbie would have been traveling for nine hours, Woodford said. Woodford said she couldn’t bear to put Barbie in a cargo hold after what her new pet had been through. The dog - forced to carry seven litters of puppies in seven years - had been rescued from a puppy mill.
“She’s such a love, all she wants to do is be petted or lay her head against you,” said Woodford, a Medicaid consultant. “It was the best way to fly her in. She was more comfortable. She was so happy when she got off. They fly in the regular part where the windows are and everything else.”
Barbie flew in on a 19-seat Beech 1900 turbo-prop airplane that has had the overhead bins and seats removed and replaced with secured individual pet carriers.
About 50 animals can fly at once in the modified aircraft cabins.
When Woodford arrived at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, L.I., to pick up Barbie, a “pet attendant” escorted the pooch from the plane to a pick up area at the airport.
“We just really want pets to be able to fly safely,” said Alysa Binder, who got Pet Airways off the ground this summer with her husband, Dan Wiesel. The first flight took off July 14. Pet Airways partners with Suburban Air, which flies twice a week for the airline.
Binder and Wiesel, both startup consultants, founded Pet Airways hoping to create a comfortable way for their Jack Russell terrier, Zoe, 17, to fly when they relocated from San Francisco to Florida.
So-called “pawsengers” on Pet Airways get regular potty breaks and are checked on by pet attendants every 15 minutes. Flights can run $300 to $500 round trip.
Binder said Massachusetts is ripe for the service. “There’s such a great demand and interest for us to fly into Boston,” she said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1191284
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