Although hardly a surprise, United Airlines has suspended new reservations under its PetSafe program until May 01, 2018.
If you visit United’s PetSafe website, you’ll be met with the following language:
Effective immediately, we are not accepting any new reservations for PetSafe travel. We will honor any existing PetSafe reservations confirmed as of March 20, 2018, although we will assist any customer that wishes to cancel their reservation. This suspension does not affect pets that travel with us in-cabin.
We are taking this voluntary action to conduct a thorough and systematic review of our PetSafe program and make improvements that will ensure the best possible experience for our customers and their pets. We expect to complete our review by May 1, 2018.
United spokesman Charles Hobart told the Washington Post that United will consult an outside expert to clean up its program and will also do a better job at keeping crews informed of the animals onboard:
Hobart said the airline also will give airport crews more advance warning about the number and type of animals flying in cargo for each flight. He said a ramp supervisor will be required to oversee the loading and unloading of all animals in cargo, and another official will have to certify that the animals were handled properly before the flight takes off.
If you have already made a PetSafe reservation for travel between now and May 01, 2018, you can still choose to entrust your pet to United. But if you are uncomfortable, United will cancel your PetSafe reservation at no fee. I’ve asked United for clarification if passenger tickets will also be refunded. While I have not hear back, I would be very disappointed if that was not the case.
Hopefully United can get its act together!
(H/T View from the Wing / image: United )
READ MORE:
United Takes Responsibility Immediately for Dead Dog in Overhead Bin
What Does the United Flight Attendant Manual Say About Dogs?
Dog-Killing FA Should Be Sacrificial Lamb
Rebuttal: Passenger, Not FA, Responsible for Dead Dog on United Flight
Senators Propose New Bill to Regulate Onboard Pet Storage
United Charters Private Jet for Lost Dog
Oy vey…will Delta Dash operate next month??
Does this mean no more ESAs on board? That would be fantastic…
READ the message on the UA web site screen grabbed above.