A dog is unloaded after the maiden flight of Pet Airways to Colorado. (July 15, 2009)
BROOMFIELD, Colo. -
The first-ever pets-only commercial airline flight landed Wednesday afternoon at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport with 35 passengers barking and meowing from their individual carriers stacked inside the main cabin.
"It's unbelievably fantastic," said Pet Airways president and founder Dan Wiesel, who is serving as the "pet attendant" on the airline's first two weeks of flights, making sure that all the furry passengers are healthy and happy in the air.
"They talk a lot when we're on the ground, but as soon as we get skyward, they're quiet. Half of them fall right asleep, and half of them just sit there calmly looking at things."
It's a far cry from the conditions Wiesel and other pet owners have to subject their dogs and cats to when flying them in the cargo holds of commercial flights -- conditions that prompted Weisel to start working on developing his pet-only airline five years ago.
"When we put (our Jack Russel Terrier) Zoe down there, all I'd do is worry," Wiesel said. "It was horrible. On our planes, the pets sit in the cabin and we make sure they have plenty of oxygen that it's nice and cold and easy for them to breathe. And the pet attendant sits right there and checks on all the animals every 15 minutes."
Pet Airways uses a Beech 1900 twin-engine plane with the seats and overhead bins removed to allow varying-sized kennels to be secured to the interior wall.
The airline debuted with one westbound flight each week and one eastbound flight. Current stops are Republic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y.; Baltimore/Washington International Airport; Chicago's Midway Airport; Rocky Mountain Metro; and Hawthorne Municipal Airport, about one mile from Los Angeles International Airport.
Wiesel said more frequent flights and more destinations will be added in the next two years.
Costs range from $149 to $299 one way, depending on how much space the animal takes up in the cabin and on how far it's traveling.
"It's unbelievably fantastic," said Pet Airways president and founder Dan Wiesel, who is serving as the "pet attendant" on the airline's first two weeks of flights, making sure that all the furry passengers are healthy and happy in the air.
"They talk a lot when we're on the ground, but as soon as we get skyward, they're quiet. Half of them fall right asleep, and half of them just sit there calmly looking at things."
It's a far cry from the conditions Wiesel and other pet owners have to subject their dogs and cats to when flying them in the cargo holds of commercial flights -- conditions that prompted Weisel to start working on developing his pet-only airline five years ago.
"When we put (our Jack Russel Terrier) Zoe down there, all I'd do is worry," Wiesel said. "It was horrible. On our planes, the pets sit in the cabin and we make sure they have plenty of oxygen that it's nice and cold and easy for them to breathe. And the pet attendant sits right there and checks on all the animals every 15 minutes."
Pet Airways uses a Beech 1900 twin-engine plane with the seats and overhead bins removed to allow varying-sized kennels to be secured to the interior wall.
The airline debuted with one westbound flight each week and one eastbound flight. Current stops are Republic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y.; Baltimore/Washington International Airport; Chicago's Midway Airport; Rocky Mountain Metro; and Hawthorne Municipal Airport, about one mile from Los Angeles International Airport.
Wiesel said more frequent flights and more destinations will be added in the next two years.
Costs range from $149 to $299 one way, depending on how much space the animal takes up in the cabin and on how far it's traveling.
