JSX has never been subtle about where it stands on pets: they belong in the cabin, not the cargo hold. Now the carrier is doubling down on that philosophy with a new partnership with Petco designed to make flying with your dog or cat not just acceptable, but actively encouraged.
JSX Wants You To Bring Your Dog And Cat Onboard (And Petco Is Helping)
JSX has announced a new partnership with Petco that leans hard into what already sets JSX apart from traditional air carriers: an unusually pet-friendly flying experience that treats animals as family, not exceptions.
This isn’t about quietly tolerating pets. It’s about designing the entire travel experience around them. I may not be a fan of dogs on planes, but I’ve long argued that there’s a great opportunity for an air carrier to embrace to pets, given how many Americans are inseparable from thier four legged friends.
JSX Already Has One Of The Most Pet-Friendly Policies In The U.S.
Before this partnership, JSX was already in a different league when it came to pets onboard.
Here’s how it works:
- Small pets can fly in a carrier under the seat for $100 each way.
- Larger dogs (up to 80 pounds) are allowed onboard by purchasing an adjacent seat.
- Larger dogs stay on the floor next to you, leashed, never on the seat itself.
- There is a limit of five dogs per flight (each passenger is limited to one larger dog)
It’s one of the few carriers setups in the U.S. that makes flying with a medium or large dog feel genuinely humane without having to lie about your dog being a service animal.
What The Petco Partnership Adds
The new Petco partnership builds on that foundation with several amenities rolling out in stages starting in early 2026.
JSX customers traveling with dogs and cats can expect:
- Limited-edition JSX-Petco “Pets On Jets” bandanas (from February 2026)
- Lounge treats, including travel-themed frosted cookies for dogs (from February 2026)
- Pet travel essentials, such as carriers and leashes, available for loan (from February 2026)
- Customized inflight snacks for dogs and cats from Petco’s WholeHearted brand (from April 2026)
- Petco-sponsored relief stations with clean-up supplies across the JSX network (from spring 2026)
- Two Petco-branded JSX aircraft
JSX is clearly trying to normalize the idea that pets are active participants in the travel experience…again, that’s going to greatly appeal to some and turn off others.
Pets Even Earn Loyalty Rewards
In perhaps the most on-brand move of all, JSX is formally recognizing pets inside its Club JSX loyalty ecosystem.
Customers will be able to create sub-profiles for their dog or cat, tied to a human account, showing how many rewards that pet has earned while traveling. Those rewards are fully shareable across a family pool.
It’s quirky, yes, but it also reinforces the idea that pets are part of the family.
By combining a genuinely workable pet policy with training, amenities, and now a major retail partner, JSX is positioning itself as the go-to option for travelers who refuse to choose between flying and bringing their dog.
Travelers increasingly expect air carriers to accommodate real life, not just carry bodies from point A to point B and that “real life” includes pets.
CONCLUSION
JSX has always been unusually welcoming to pets, but the new Petco partnership makes that philosophy impossible to miss. From inflight treats and travel gear to loyalty recognition and relief stations, JSX isn’t just allowing dogs and cats onboard, it’s actively inviting them.
For pet owners tired of cheating the system with their “service” dogs, JSX continues to offer something genuinely different and a way to bring pets onboard without having to lie, cheat, and steal…
But if they’re charging $100 they’re not really solving the problem, are they?
I think allowing the dogs to have their own seat and frequent flyer account is a step to solving the problem.
Personally, I’d still ban dogs period…all of them.
What’s you reason for wanting to ban all pets? They don’t scream and usually just sleep. I’d gladly buy an extra seat for a small dog on other airlines if offered. What if they added a rule that if there are 3 seats together, your party must buy 2 plus 1 for the pet? That would eliminate any possible discomfort to a stranger.
Not worth the risk of them attacking or biting or defacating or urinating.
That’s why you charge dogs full fare.
That more than covers any cleaning fees
After the 2021 ban on untrained emotional support animals, data indicates trained service dogs cause minimal incidents, with only a handful of documented cases among millions of flights, while the peak ESA era still saw far fewer animal incidents than human ones.
Humans caused over 5,900 unruly incidents in 2021 and 1,240+ in 2024, including numerous cases of passengers defecating on seats, urinating on other passengers, and violently assaulting crew members, with one physical abuse incident occurring every 17,200 flights according to IATA data.
If “not worth the risk of attacking, biting, defecating, or urinating” justifies banning a species from aircraft, the data overwhelmingly supports banning humans before dogs.
It’s really about the money. Falsely claimed support and/or emotional support animals were a loophole for passengers to avoid paying extra fees to airlines for the privilege of bringing your pet in-cabin. JSX isn’t a major airline, and they’re operating more like a private charter, anyway, so, why not, but, understand, they’re simply trying to make a few bucks off the fees. I think it’s a whole lot less about ‘pet-friendly’ or otherwise. Follow the money.
@1990 It’s called Capitalism – value for service. Welcome to the United States.
As a former pet owner, I think this is a great idea. The key assumption is that the pets are well behaved. Then again, nowadays I would bet on most pets being better behaved than passengers.
From an operational standpoint, my main concerns would be with dogs/pets that need to relieve themselves on longer flights. And hopefully there aren’t any passengers with pet/dander allergies also on board.
I’m in the no pets on board side. But, this is better than many options. I hope that dogs that have “accidents” or otherwise misbehave lose their FF accounts. JSX has 1-2 seating, using all three on the E135, but blocks off the aisle seat on the “2” side on the E145. Does this mean larger dogs only on the 135? Or do they let you do it on a 145 by selling you a seat that would have been blocked off?