Might fly for the first time since 1978. Advice?

[XS22J8R]

I’m a pilot but haven’t been on a commercial flight in years.
I have pilot friends who go on missions in small planes to pick up rescue dogs to bring them back here to foster families and forever homes.
I‘ve also had friends who’ve bought dogs from out of state breeders and had them shipped here by commercial flights. They’d go to O Hare airport to pick up their new puppy when the flight arrived. There were no issues with that, the dogs arrived happy and healthy.
Traveling 1200 miles in a car with a new puppy sounds no fun on the other hand.

 

[33 IMP]

By all means, post pics when you get 'im home.

 

[Cranky]

Think I'd talk to this guy before doing anything...... @XS22J8R

 

[LowBikeMike]

Most of the people who complain about airlines don't even fly. I fly twice a month for work and rarely have any issues. Have your act together, travel light, and mind your own business and everything will be fine.

That said, I would not fly with a new puppy.

 

[GetX'd]

I've flown an excessive amount for work. Yeah it's not particularly enjoyable - but it's not as utterly horrible as so many make it out to be. Take the guys post above mine and follow his advice and you'll be fine. I know zippo about flying with a pet so I've got nothing for you there. Twelve hundred miles seems a long *** way to go for a puppy PU by car. Do your homework on airline regs and plan accordingly.

 

[GTXDAN]

If you do decide to fly make damn sure that the cage will not come open accidently as they will only chase a dog on the ramp for a short while before they throw in the towel. Tie it shut with tie-wraps so it can't come open. It's cool now so there should be no problems. The airlines have mostly given up hauling dogs in the summer because they can't stand the heat and won't survive the trip.

 

[PeteBell68]

Every flight I do now is carry on longer ones I buy what I need and leave if anything ,
flying with pets is a tough one it’s hard on them and you be prepared with all the new regulations .Be safe

 

[AR67GTX]

I hope you don’t get stuck on one of those commuter jets with 2 eats on one side and 1 seat on the other. The seats are 3/4 scale for the average human and absolutely miserable unless you’re a midget. I’ve told my wife I won’t fly on one of them again. If that’s the only way I can fly out of this town, I will be walking or driving instead.

 

[WileE]

I fly a few times a year, for many years. A short trip like that is a piece of cake. It's really not bad. Just check with the airline about the return trip with the pup.

 

[Cranky]

Had a crappy flight in 76 and didn't care to fly anymore after that on any commercial flying bus. Then when I hired on as a machinist for a refinery in 1980, I found that there were several others there that came in that were machinists for the airlines and that's where I heard several stories about how some planes were 'fixed' well enough to get air borne but all bets were off once in the sky. They left their jobs because they didn't want to be responsible for a crash after being pressured into 'fixing' something that wasn't really fixed in the name of getting the thing in the sky and not having to move passengers off from the junker to another craft that might not be much better. Sure, there were rules and regs but back then, it wasn't all that tight from what I was told. Hopefully, things are much better now but screw it. Didn't like my last flight up at all and I'm done. Now I will go up in any old Stearman biplane in a New York second! After all, those are not a corporate mess (plane) and subject to meeting flight schedules etc.

 

[64BEL]

it's not as utterly horrible as so many make it out to be. Take the guys post above mine and follow his advice and you'll be fine. I know zippo about flying with a pet so I've got nothing for you there. Twelve hundred miles seems a long *** way to go for a puppy PU by car. Do your homework on airline regs and plan accordingly.

Agreed.
I think I went about 18-19 years without flying until last December after our daughter moved to Colorado. I wasn't very interested in someone else controlling my movements. Now I've flown 3 times in the last 11 months. It really isn't that bad depending on where you fly out of and into, and I've warmed up to it. It's become cheaper than driving the 1050 miles for us - especially if we get a hotel on the way out and again on the way home. We're getting a little old to be driving 1050 miles straight through. If you can fly out of a smaller airport, it's a plus. We can get from the parking lot to the gate at the Green Bay airport in 10 minutes. Denver isn't as good for the return trip. We've been flying Frontier, which is a budget airline, but no complaints. On one flight they got me there 20 minutes early. Flying direct is the way to go if you can, but it looks like you'd have a layover in Chicago. As GetX'd said, I have no knowledge about flying with pets.

 

[Don Frelier]

Sorry but why would you need to go so far to get a dog?
My wife found our dog from a rescue organisation 10 minutes from our house.
She's not perfect but a very sweet lovable dog.

 

[f569]

- didn't make you travel
- drinks beer
- does brake jobs

She's a keeper!

 

[Mopar Hunter]

I would make sure to take the puppy to a vet, to have all its shots. You don’t want to get it sick being closed up in the area like that. Kennel cough comes to mind.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Last time I flew, I saw the pilot in the bar at the airport having a few drinks.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Don’t worry about passengers wearing sheets on their heads, they might be having bad hair days.

 

[1STMP]

Drive. 3 day trip, and it will give you plenty
of time to bond with your new found friend.
Much less traumatic for the pup. You can
relax and maybe begin a visual diary starting
with your road trip to your friends new home.

 

[68BabyBlue]

If you have a layover in O'Hare Airport, don't do what my friend Bob did when we flew out to Iowa in 2016 to bring GTX number five back east. He got on the wrong side of the security check when returning from the men's room, missed our connecting flight, and spent the night in the boarding area. I boarded on schedule, and had visions of ending up in an Iowa cornfield ala Buddy Holly. The next day we met at the airport in Cedar Rapids. We laugh about it now, but he had no sense of humor that night.