United Airlines suspends new reservations for pets in cargo hold
CHICAGO, IL (AP/WCMH) – United Airlines is pausing its pet-shipping business after mishaps that include a dog winding up in Japan instead of Kansas.
United said Tuesday that it will halt PetSafe reservations while it reviews the service, which lets customers ship pets as cargo. Fees can run several hundred dollars for a medium-size or big dog.
The review, expected to finish by May 1, doesn’t affect pets in the cabin like the French bulldog that died last week after a flight attendant ordered a passenger to put her pet carrier in the overhead bin.
After that incident, United chartered a private jet to return the German shepherd from Japan. Two days later another flight made an unplanned landing in Akron, Ohio because it was carrying a dog that was put on the wrong plane.
The pause won’t affect existing reservations, according to United.