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Originally Posted by ladyjane  Thanks Mary, for clarifying for me. |
Thank you Jane. I meant no disrespect; I just get so upset about the airline fees. You and others bring up the point about liability. I do not understand the rationale for that in the least, and believe it is being used as an excuse to take advantage of small pet owners. Here is my logic: All they would have to do is make you sign a waiver, stating that any harm done to your pet that is in YOUR care aboard the plane is not the responsibility of the airline. Sign it, take the (extremely minimal) risk, and pay a carry on fee. If any major carrier offered that, think how much more business they would get.
Waivers work for this type of issue. I had to sign one when I went flying in a major celebrity's plane a couple years ago, because he had such deep pockets, as I suppose the airlines do. The chances of anything happening to me were extremely remote, but I understood the risks and was happy to sign. The cabin air pressure and quality is obviously good enough for a pet. I imagine if cabin pressure got low, there could be an issue w/masks, but if the owner were to waive responsibility for such an occurrence, I don’t see the problem.
One flight attendant (who was the nasty type that would yell at me for even letting my little pippin stick his head out of the carrier, even though he was barking his head off since he needed to see) told me that the high fees were due to "cleaning up" after pets. I don't believe there is any credence in that argument either, as I have never seen a pet make a mess on board, at least not one that the owner could not clean up. Don’t we allow for unattended minors and babies to fly? Babies that don’t get their own seat, fly for free. Parents change their diapers on board. I am not saying that a pet is as important as a person, that is not the issue, only trying to see the airlines logic in charging exorbitant fees. I will try to write an airline or two on their web sites and see what kind of packaged response I get.
Shawn