April 23, 2008

NEW YORK – To combat the record cost of fuel, the airline industry has been upping the ante for travelers -- and that includes jet-setting animal companions.

Delta Air Lines, as a prelude to its merger with Northwest Airlines, implemented several new luggage fees, including a jump from $75 to $100 for carrying a pet in the cabin.

A Delta representative told Pet Pulse, the April 1 fee change makes Delta’s fee structure more competitive with those of other airlines.

While Delta did not reveal how much revenue it could gain from the fee increase -- the first since September 2007 – it came as a result of previous attempts failing to counter rising costs.

“(Raising fares) have not been successful because there’s also a need for Delta to be competitive,” said Betsy Talton, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines Inc., in an interview with The Associated Press.

When pets travel with the airline, owners have a couple options generally available for flight accommodations – either as carry-on or checked baggage. However, choice of pet air travel accomodations is contingent upon weather, temperatures and breed as noted in Delta’s Summer Restrictions policy, which is in effect May 15 to September 15.

According to Delta, in 2007 more than 55,000 pets took advantage of traveling in the cabin on the floorboards in front of their owners – a recently added option -- while more than 64,000 flew as checked baggage.

That’s just a drop in the bucket when compared to the roughly two million pets which fly commercially each year, as estimated by the Department of Transportation.

But Delta could see an increase of furry travelers in the wake of its April 14 announcement -- the long-speculated acquisition of Northwest Airlines. At the cost of about $3.1 billion, the deal creates the world’s largest airline, which could trigger a series of copy cat buyouts to reshape the U.S. airlines industry.

For now it’s just expert forecasting, but in other airline news, Northwest Airlines revealed on Monday its new online feature which now allows customers traveling with carry-on pets to book flights at its Web site. This reservation feature applies to certain domestic dogs, cats or household birds traveling in a kennel for an $80 one-way fare.

Tell us what you think about “Delta Imposes Higher Fees on Animal Travelers” below. Share your favorite videos by clicking on the ZootooTV tab. Send us your story ideas by e-mailing us at news@zootoo.com or by calling us at 877-777-4204.

Robin Wallace, Pet Pulse, and The Associated Press contributed to this article.