You Are Now Free to Move Your Pet Around the Country
by Michael Schaffer

The all-animal Pet Airways is just preparing to take off this summer, but already they have a low-cost competitor. It’s not, alas, another pets-only carrier: It’s Southwest, the airline that first brought discount no-frills vacations to the two-legged set. From the airline’s blog this morning:

 We are very pleased to welcome pets onboard our aircraft for the very first time as part of a new program called P.A.W.S. (Pets Are Welcome on Southwest).  We will begin allowing our Customers to bring along a limited number of small cats and dogs in the aircraft cabin for a low pet fare of $75 each way.  Our Employees and our Customers have told us for years that this is something that they want from Southwest, and our enhanced boarding allows us to offer this new service without impacting the efficiency of our operation.  Customers can begin purchasing tickets for their pets on June 1, 2009, for travel beginning June 17, 2009.

And for those flying to Houston, my pal Mary informs that the airport there now boasts its own “pet relief area,” joining Phoenix and a handful of others in creating the permanent infrastructure for a nation of travelling pets.