Delta Becomes Latest Airline To Change Rules For Traveling With Pets
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Every year hundreds of thousands of pets take to the sky. When they are too big to ride in the plane's cabin, they need to be checked, but one of the nation's biggest airlines is joining other carriers, and changing its rules.
For Peter Harrold and his wife Jan, their dog Shanti is part of the family. That means when they fly, their adorable golden doodle does, too. But, Shanti is too big for the cabin, so she has to be checked.
"It is not the easiest thing, it takes a long time, there's lots of paperwork," Harold said.
Starting in March, Delta will no longer allow larger pets to be checked onto their owner's flights.
Instead, they'll be handled as freight.
Pets will have to arrive at the airport three hours before a flight, be dropped off and picked up at the airlines cargo facility, which may be in a different flight that may arrive at a different time.
Delta's change follows United, which also transports larger dogs as cargo.
"We really have a better equipped facility at cargo," said Sue Kazlaw-Nelson, who runs the airline's Petsafe Program. "We can probably keep the animals in a safe environment, and have professional staff that can look after them, when they have a connection or layover, rather than just leaving them out on the tarmac, where the bags are."
Southwest and JetBlue won't let you check a pet. However, American Airlines still does, but only on certain types of aircraft, and not when it's too hot or too cold.