Congress also decided that statistics on pet deaths and incidents will be made public airline by airline. Partly as a result, many airlines have decided not to handle pets as baggage over the summer when most incidents occur. Some airlines, including American, had already restricted pets during the summer, and Delta banned pets when the temperature was above 85 degrees. Most airlines will handle pets as cargo, where there are generally better quality controls. In general, airlines allow seeing-eye dogs and small pets in containers to be carried aboard planes.
Airlines have differing policies for carrying dogs as baggage.
Southwest, for example, won't transport pets. America West allows only small pets in the passenger cabin in containers. In Dakota's case, said Joe Hopkins, a spokesman for United, it's likely that someone in the baggage section at Dulles was reviewing paperwork and saw that a baggage handler had made a mistake. Someone at Dulles called the United Operations Center in suburban Chicago, which then contacted the pilot. Bell expressed gratitude to the captain and the rest of the crew, and to fellow passengers for not complaining about the delay.