Safety is the<\/em> most important thing when it comes to our pets. Unfortunately, pinning down real statistics on the safety of any one airline is a very difficult thing to do.<\/p>\n

The good news is that the U.S. Department of Transportation, or DOT, has required all U.S. airlines that operate scheduled passenger flights to file monthly reports on all pet deaths, injuries and losses that occurred during transport, and that these safety reports are readily available to the public. The bad news? The data is incomplete, a little convoluted, and really difficult to interpret.<\/p>\n

Airlines differ widely when it comes to how many animals they transport each month. So, you can\u2019t just go by an airline\u2019s reported number of incidents — percentages matter just as much.<\/p>\n

The reporting system is also plagued by errors. The DOT relies on airlines to police themselves — it doesn\u2019t fact check or investigate the numbers they provide. So, there\u2019s no oversight and no real way to know if you\u2019re dealing with accurate statistics. Then there are the airlines that are newbies to pet travel and don\u2019t even have a record yet.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there\u2019s no completely reliable way to say whether one airline is safer than another. If you are very concerned, flying with your pet in-cabin where he\u2019s in sight and under your control may make you feel much better.<\/p>\n