Delta Air Lines adds new restrictions on pet travel

Many people take their pets with them on summer vacation, but now traveling with your pet is getting more complicated. As of last month, Delta Air Lines is no longer carrying pets as cargo or checked baggage on any Boeing 767 flights, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The carrier said it has contacted customers to offer alternatives such as transferring them to airline partners that can accommodate their pets. Delta has about 95 Boeing 767s in its fleet, the paper reported.

Delta has made other changes to its pet policies in recent months, according to the paper. Among them:

• As of February, Delta is banning pets in the cabin in international business class in order to make room for new lie-flat seats. 
• Delta banned snub-nosed dogs and cats as checked baggage after the deaths of a few bulldogs and similar breeds late last year. 
• Delta will generally not carry pets as checked baggage from May 15 through Sept. 15, or anytime when the outside temperature is above 85 degrees or below 10 degrees on the ground. 

More than half of reported pet deaths on U.S. airlines last year were on Delta, according to federal data. But Delta said the number of pets that are injured or die on the airline is less than 0.2 percent of pets carried.

Those traveling with pets should check with their airline well in advance for current regulations, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, adding that airlines sometimes update their restrictions on pet travel.

"If the airlines are making these decisions based in whole or in part on the health and welfare of the animal, then it's a good thing," said AVMA spokesman David Kirkpatrick. Before flying with pets, "owners need to do a good amount of research."

Sources: www.wltx.com and The Seattle Times