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Markets in everything yes this is real
Each time pets move anywhere, from the Pet Lounge to the pet limo or
from the pet limo to the plane, we track and record their progress,
which means you can monitor your pet’s journey every step of the way
online at Pet Airways Pet Tracker.
Our Pet Airways Promise is that your pet will never be left alone. A pet attendant will always be within a cat's meow.
The airline is for pets only and they are called "Pawsengers." Here are some price comparisons. Here is something akin to a frequent flyer club. The crew aside, humans are not even allowed to fly in the cargo hold. Here is their blog, which includes a clip from FoxNews. I was convinced this was not real but the brilliant John dePalma, the original source of the reference, sends along this BBC story:
The airline has scheduled its first flight for cats and dogs for 14 July and will serve five US cities - New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles(...)The flights will be made in 19-seat turbo-prop planes operated by Suburban Air Freight, which have their seats removed to make space for the pet carriers.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on April 21, 2009 at 06:10 AM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
I've always wanted to meet "The Aristocats" and I've heard that Paris in the spring is nice, so is anyone willing to pay to fly Momster there?
Posted by: Momster Cat at Apr 21, 2009 6:41:42 AM
Just when you start believing in the capital crunch, along comes funding for this profoundly stupid idea.
Posted by: Eric at Apr 21, 2009 7:51:24 AM
Just guessing that Eric doesn't own a pet.
About 5 years ago a friend told me that she spent $2500 on surgery for her cat. I asked her if she was crazy....
Then a couple of years ago I got 2 small dogs. When one of them was seriously injured I had no problem spending $2000, and would probably not have cut off the money until close to $5000. I still can't believe it, but I would do it again in a instant. And I consider myself pretty frugal.
For many people, especially those who are single and older, your pet becomes a constant companion, one that always treats you like you're the king or queen of the universe, and in the case of dogs, they are usually delighted to be around you. And I have yet to meet a dog or cat owner who doesn't talk with their pet. Just ask.
So I can understand how flying your pet around to be with you for some pet owners is more of a "Of course I do." rather than a "How stupid." When I travel I leave my dog with friends and family, and they are thrilled to have him. But I'm always glad to get home.
Posted by: anon at Apr 21, 2009 9:07:22 AM
Eight years ago, my aged father moved across the country, and it fell to me to move his large dog. Doing this with standard air freight was a very expensive proposition, including buying a cage large enough for the animal to stand up and turn around, a cage that we would never use again. Also there were season restrictions since the animal in the cage would spend time on the ground in unheated/uncooled spaces. I ended up driving from Nevada to Michigan with my father's dog in the back seat.
If this pet airline existed then, I might have hired them.
Posted by: John Mansfield at Apr 21, 2009 9:12:56 AM
Like John said, it can be a pain to transport pets via airplane. I've flown with my dog on Delta. Since he's too big to go under the seat, he was transported in the cargo hold. Airlines don't have the best safety records for transporting pets, so it can be stressful to have to do this. This is actually not the first pet airline, and I'm not sure that there's enough of a market to actually support a pet airline that flies its own planes.
Posted by: Jen (SLC) at Apr 21, 2009 9:42:00 AM
One could argue that certain low-cost carriers are the human equivalent.
Posted by: Peter at Apr 21, 2009 10:12:50 AM
My aunt was married to an Army man and had to move to Germany from America with her cats. If I'm not mistaken they were flown under the main part of the plane in a cargo hold.
I remember imagining how terrifying it must be for animals to be in a cramped, dark place for over 8 hours with no explanation of what's going on. I remember thinking if this had been my only choice I might have given my cats away rather than put them through it.
Posted by: Shae at Apr 21, 2009 12:14:45 PM
I'd pay for that service. In fact, I just e-mailed it to my wife so that we don't forget about it. I'm also e-mailing it to friends.
I pay $65/day to board my dog when I'd rather have him with me. Do the math...... It'd be cheaper for me to fly him on our next vacation than pay for boarding.
Some people might think that's "stupid." Fine. I'm willing I could nit-pick your lives and find something "stupid" about how you live, too.
Tastes and values are subjective.
Posted by: Mike at Apr 21, 2009 12:19:09 PM
Add me to the list who would fly their dogs bicoastally - it would be a wash on boarding, and the grandparents want to see their grand-dogs.
Posted by: Mr. Econotarian at Apr 21, 2009 3:30:14 PM
Noah would be proud.
Posted by: JH at Apr 21, 2009 4:42:19 PM
Count me as one who thinks there's obviously a market here-- indeed one of my occasional "why doesn't anybody do this?" ideas has been the occasional dedicated flight on which pets could rise in the cabin regardless of size. (Let everyone know in advance; non-pet-accompaniers could fly the route too but would be aware that there would be a large number of animals aboard; run a couple flights per week on hub-to-hub routes.) For serious pet people, the possibility of not having a pet fly cargo is worth a *lot.* And the fares here are cheap, considering that people pay $75-100 each way to carry on small pets now.
Posted by: Jacob T. Levy at Apr 21, 2009 6:45:13 PM
considering on most airlines it costs more to fly my dog than to fly myself this doesn't surprise me.
Posted by: Steve at Apr 22, 2009 12:05:40 PM
would this strike me as ballardian even if he wasn´t on my mind right now? I think so.
Posted by: dz at Apr 22, 2009 12:57:54 PM
There have been quite a few horror stories, like this one, about pets who have died or had problems on normal plane flights.
I actually think this is a great idea. Despite the economic issues, spending on pets is up, and pet owners are willing to spend quite a bit on their pets. If I for some reason needed to move my cat, I would certainly rather do this than send her cargo, and I'd imagine quite a few other pet owners would agree. The question is if they will have enough customers to get the economies of scale to be profitable.
Posted by: MadAnthony at Apr 22, 2009 1:27:43 PM
It seems obvious to me that while you're a great economist, you're missing out on one of the great joys in life, having a pet.
I've flown with dogs in the cabin of a plane, and it's incredibly expensive. The last time I did this, my seat cost $129 (Raleigh to Fort Lauderdale on Delta). My dog's "seat"-- AKA the ability for me to put her in a tiny dog carrier on the floor under the seat in front of me-- cost $80 each way, or $160, plus I had to have a veterinarian sign off on a form which costs an office visit. Continental charges $90, and Southwest and other carriers don't take pets at all.
Yes, taking my little six-pound dog and buying wight inches for her under a seat cost me more than my own seat on the plane! And yes, dogs are required to have a doctor's visit before going on a plane while people aren't.
To me, that's ludicrous and it's why I'm probably going to drive everywhere from now on. I would consider this in a minute.
Posted by: Libertarian Girl at Apr 22, 2009 3:50:42 PM
I am wondering how much this relies on the owners not witnessing how the animals react in flight? If the pets were uncomfortable during the trip, would their owners even find out? Pet Airways claims to provide comfortable accommodations for the pets, and I am not disputing them. But I am curious how one would go about confirming it.
What keeps a company accountable, when much of what they promise isn't easily witnessed by the purchaser?
Posted by: Wayne VanWeerthuizen at Apr 23, 2009 10:14:13 PM
Wayne, how would that problem be any different than taking your dog for boarding, or leaving them at the vet for surgery all day, or taking your child to daycare? Much of what we buy/purchase we can't directly witness (who wants to know how McDonald's gets that meat so cheap??) and yet for the most part, it works the way it's supposed to or the customer finds out.
Posted by: Libertarian Girl at Apr 27, 2009 12:51:33 AM
It seems obvious to me that while you're a great economist, you're missing out on one of the great joys in life, having a pet.
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