United Airlines Complaint - Cats on flight - meows all thru the flight

Posted by klobbersaurus685 on 2010-02-26:

The cats could have been a service pet. There are people who suffer from severe anxiety who use the animails to help them calm down.

Posted by MissMarple on 2010-02-26:

OP, I always travel with several sets of earplugs. I recommend that you pick some up next time you are at the store.

They have been keeping me sane for years.

Posted by Hugh_Jorgen on 2010-02-26:

Well, since Northwest Airlines quit existing about a month ago, you won't ever have to worry about flying them again.

But don't be surprised when you have the same problem on another airline. There is no requirement that animals have to be sedated for travel and just like traveling with small children, it's up to the passenger to keep them well behaved.

What did you realistically expect them to do? Divert the flight and kick them off? Euthanize the cats? Lock them in the lavatory?

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-02-26:

The ADA does not recognize "comfort animals" as service animals except for a narrow channel of psychiatric problem ie ptsd. Service pet or not, if being taken out in public, they should be trained well enough to behave and keep quite.

Posted by klobbersaurus685 on 2010-02-26:

Comfort Animals are not always professionally trained such as seeing eye dogs or the like. A comfort animal can simply be someones cat that they have had for years. With proper documentation there is never a problem flying or bringing the animal places.
I am speaking as a person who flys with my father inlaw who has a cat that travels with him. All we need is the documents from his Dr. citing that it is needed. Easy.

Posted by jktshff1 on 2010-02-26:

Klobber, respectfully, you are missing the point of behavior. ANY animal taken out in the public, should be properly trained to behave, it doesn't have to be professionally done. If you are going to keep an animal, it is your responsibility to take care of it.
My dog (hearing assist) behaves and listens better than most children I know and a quite a few of the adults. I usually don't carry him with me everywhere simply because of his size (@150 lbs).

Posted by Ben There on 2010-02-26:

Just like drunks, kids and babies, an airline has no idea how an animal is going to react in the air.

Also, Northwest (now Delta) did not fly from Virginia Beach/Norfolk to Chicago - their hub is Detroit. This two hour and twenty-six minute flight was either on United who does fly that route nonstop, or you flew to Detroit.

Posted by bargod on 2010-02-26:

Did they not have headsets? so you could listen to some music or something. It's unfortunate what you went through but, Ive been on flights with crying babies or noisy children. Should they be sedated too? Next time pack an ipod.

Posted by KenPopcorn on 2010-02-26:

Pets don't belong in the cabin, plain and simple. If you can't take a vacation without your little boo-boo kitty, then crate them properly and put them in the hold. Just because you are lucky enough to own the most precious little snookums in the world, doesn't mean that the rest of us should have to be subjected to them.

Posted by littleyaya on 2010-02-26:

Fly Southwest. They don't allow animals to fly

Posted by saj80 on 2010-02-26:

Ken, best answer!

Posted by bargod on 2010-02-26:

Excactly, Ken. Also what about the people with alergies? If they don't allow peanuts on board the they shouldn't allow pets.

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-02-26:

personally a meowing cat wouldn't bother me much. if it did then i'd use my headsets to drown it out.


but that's because after living on a navy ship there's a lot of noise you learn to tolerate.
like sleeping when they're practically landing jets in your face (berthing is right below the flight deck on my last ship)

and cats... well hell a cat doesn't know any better.
that too would allow me to ignore the sounds it makes.

hell i'd have taken a screaming cat over the neighbors at my old apartment complex any day. they were noisy and knew better. they just didn't care

Posted by littleyaya on 2010-02-26:

The pilot actually has the final say on whether or not a pet will fly (unless it is a service animal). If a passenger speaks up and says they have allergies, the pilot will most likely not allow the pet to fly. When a passenger books their pet, it is never a guarantee that the animal will actually fly. And most airlines limit the amount of pets that will fly on each aircraft. For US Airways, I think it was 3 pets in coach, 1 in first class

Posted by justthefaxx on 2010-02-26:

You got where you supposed to go, didn't you? Charter your own flight if you can't deal with your fellow American's.

Posted by bargod on 2010-02-26:

The cats ears were probably bothering it, they should have just givin it some gum.

Posted by Stew on 2010-02-26:

I agree with Ken. Pets don't belong in the cabin.

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-02-26:

or some ear drops perhaps. that could have been a kindness to the animal at least

Posted by zzrokk on 2010-02-26:

Don't they put cats pets in the cargo area?

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-02-26:

they can, but it has to be pressurized cargo. it also cannot fall outside of a specific range of temperatures during the flight since the animals are outside for a period of time.

i ran into that issue when i sent my cat home (i was going on deployment). The temperature was too hot on most of the days. I finally got kitty out when they realized the airport that was reporting the "too hot" temp wasn't going to be that hot until after my cat had left that airport.

so the safest place for them really is in the cabin where you're usually guaranteed better temperatures and the animal won't be sitting on the tarmac for any period of time.

Posted by zzrokk on 2010-02-26:

My have times changed.

Posted by sherdy on 2010-02-26:

I love my cats like they are my children, heck, they ARE my children. When I went to London and Paris in 2005, they stayed with Grandpa and had a wonderful time. People have to have better sense than to subject an animal they claim to love to traveling like that. Animals aren't cargo, and they aren't people. It's not fun for the animal, no matter how you try to humanize them.

Posted by CrazyRedHead on 2010-02-26:

I would rather put up with a meowing cat than a bunch of unruly children.

Posted by Stew on 2010-02-26:

Very well said Sherdy.

Posted by KenPopcorn on 2010-02-26:

They should be in the hold too, CRH

Posted by PepperElf on 2010-02-26:

lol same here CRH.

with one exception... at the old apartment the crying baby was not an annoyance cos it was simply a baby. the other noisy apartments full of people who knew better however... yeah

Posted by merope on 2010-02-27:

Kenpopcorn--I wish the same went for kids.

Posted by drugdoc121 on 2010-03-15:

Sometimes animals fly not because "snookums" as one person sarcastically said need to go on vacation, but their owners are moving cross country. I have done twice and while I sedated and put my cats AND dog in the hold, I do not suppose to know that being in the hold is suitable for ALL animals. I try not to judge and show some tolerance. I bet it wasn't a pleasant trip for the owners either.

Posted by azspots on 2010-04-01:

Southwest just recently started allowing animals.