This has got to be the best news story I have read in a while. Of course the story details the concerns of the flight crew and the inconvenience to the passengers, but being the crazy cat lady that I am, I sympathized with the poor kitty and his owner.
Air travel with pets is a very stressful ordeal for all involved. I know this first-hand because when we moved to Germany from the US, we brought my three cats with us. The rule of thumb for animals in the cabin is one person, one animal and the number of animals on a flight is limited. Since A. and I were only two, we had a choice: We could each bring a cat in a soft carrier and the other could ride in the luggage compartment, or all three could ride in the luggage compartment. I wasn't too happy with either choice, but since I felt I should be fair to my cats, I chose to have all three ride in the luggage compartment.
We flew from Portland, Oregon to Detroit, had about a two hour layover and then flew from Detroit to Frankfurt. All together, about a 12 hour flight and a 36 hour day. I am usually pretty laid back, but I had never been so stressed out in my entire life!
In Portland, I stayed with them until the last possible second and strongly warned anyone that was part of the Northwest Airlines family that they would face my wrath if anything happened to my highly valuable cats. (They are priceless to me, and besides, with all the money I had to invest to get them ready to go, I felt that I had a right to tell everyone they were valuable!)
In Detroit, I stood in the lobby with my nose glued to the window as I watched the baggage handlers load my cats into the luggage compartment. I had marked their carriers with highly visible "Live Animal" signs and florescent tape specifically for that purpose.
Every 15 minutes from Detroit to Frankfurt, I whined and cried on A.'s shoulder that I hoped they wouldn't be too traumatized, while he reassured me they were OK. I wasn't so sure: I had read horror stories of how badly animals were treated in the luggage compartments and others of how animals disappeared in transit. I was a nervous wreck until I saw them in Frankfurt, where all three greeted me with highly pissed-off looks on their faces. But to me at that moment, they had never looked so sweet and adorable.
Yet, I must give Northwest Airlines credit. On each plane, before it took off, I was given a special "Pet Passport" that verified that the pilot knew that my cats were aboard and that they had made it safely into the luggage compartment. However, it is an ordeal that I am not anxious to repeat and my advice to anyone who is considering flying with their pets is: Don't do it unless it is absolutely necessary. It is much less stressful for all involved.
On a final note, I want to reassure everyone that my cats came through their first Trans-Atlantic flight without being too traumatized (even Harley, who was at the time only about 8 months old) ...Even though they do still mysteriously disappear every time they see the kitty carriers!
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