Abu Dhabi Exclusive—High fliers reached for the skies Thursday in Abu Dhabi as United Cargo President Jan Krems delivered the welcome address for the “Flying High – Safeguarding Animal Safety and Welfare” track at the IATA World Cargo Symposium.
      Jan reached out to FlyingTypers to speak about the rewards and the challenges of transporting live animals.

We Talk To The Animals

      “Of course, our PetSafe service is an important part of United Cargo’s business,” Jan smiled.
      “We’re one of the largest animal transporters in the worldwide air cargo supply chain, and the market leader among U.S. belly carriers.
      “We carry an average of 550 pet shipments a day, and in peak seasons we carry as many as 1,000 pet shipments in a day.
       “But anyone who knows me, or knows the people involved with PetSafe, knows this is much more than just a ‘business segment’ to us.
      “The experts at our Global PetSafe desk and those in locations around the world are pet owners and animal lovers themselves.
      “We know how people feel about their pets, and we recognize that whenever we accept a PetSafe shipment, we’re transporting a living, breathing member of our customer’s family.”

Gone To The Dogs A Long Time Ago

      “I have three dogs of my own, so I, along with everyone in PetSafe, was happy and proud when United was voted ‘Best Pet Friendly Airline’ by Global Traveler Magazine in 2016.
      “It’s rewarding to be able to reconnect people and their pets, whether it’s reuniting a U.S. Army veteran and the dog he served with overseas, as we recently did in South Bend, Indiana, or if we’re reconnecting a relocating family with their pet in their new hometown.
      “But a lot of preparation, training, and careful attention is needed to do pet shipping right, and there are challenges unique to the transport of live animals.
      “That’s why our Global Manager of PetSafe Product Development Sue Kazlaw-Nelson and I were pleased to participate in the track and speak about what we do to safeguard the health and safety of the pets we fly.”

Sweet Sue Vantastic

      “We have over 90 custom-designed, climate-controlled ‘PetSafe vans’ designed to transport pets in safety and comfort in all weather conditions,” Sue Kazlaw-Nelson said.
      “Our deluxe onsite pet hotels and offsite facilities accommodate pets during long connection times and before international travel.
      “Experienced animal handlers provide pets with comfort stops, walks or ‘play time,’ along with food, water breaks, and lots of attention during their journey with us.”

Best Surprise Is No Surprise

      “International pet shipping requires another level of planning and precaution,” Jan Krems said.
      “There are nearly as many different rules and regulations for importing and exporting animals as there are countries we fly to. “Since we provide PetSafe service in nearly 300 United and United Express cities, we have pet shipping experts—at our PetSafe Desk and all over the world—who know exactly what the rules are for each destination so we and our customers avoid any issues.”

Pets Rule

       “There are also many regulations governing the environment for traveling pets on the ground and in the air,” Sweet Sue said.
      “These specify conditions for the areas animals stay in while they wait for a flight; how we feed, water, and walk them; and when an overnight stay or comfort stop at one of our onsite or offsite kennels is required.
      “There are rules about what makes an enclosure or crate air-worthy and how much room the animal needs so it can move around freely.
       “Additionally, there are rules defining how many animals we can carry on a flight, how much space each one needs, the temperature in the cargo hold, what other cargo can be carried on the flight, et cetera.
      “In each case, United has our own policies that we meet, which are often stricter than government regulations,” she said.

With You Every Step Of The Way

      “We want our four-legged passengers to be happy travelers,” Jan Krems said, “comfortable, and have a safe and pleasant journey, just like the two-legged passengers on United’s flights.
       “The core of the challenge of transporting pets is, unlike the forwarder partners we frequently work with, many PetSafe customers are not shipping experts.
      “So along with the many details involved in any shipment, our PetSafe experts spend a lot of time educating customers about how best to prepare their pets for the journey.
      “It requires much more time and interaction than any other type of business we do, but these calls and consultations are necessary to ensure that pets (and their owners) have the best experience when traveling with us.”
Geoffrey