Humans complain as Pet Airways cancels flights

The once-loved Pet Airways, created by a California real estate developer, has run into trouble, stranding cats and dogs and leaving their unhappy owners holding the leash, the New York Times has reported.

“It’s outrageous,” pet owner Martha Hamilton said after the airline canceled three reservations. “Thanks to Pet Airways, I had to fly from New York to L.A., rent a car and drive all the way back.”

Pet Airways ― once the great transportation hope for animal owners ― is suffering a fate similar to that of its counterparts that cater to human travelers.

Dog and cat owners are angry about canceled flights. Travel sites are abuzz with complaints, including customers who claim they have not received refunds for paid-for flights. And the company is burning through cash at a rapid rate.

The co-founder of Pet Airways, Alysa Binder, acknowledged in an email exchange that the airline, which does not own an airplane, has had some problems since November, when it decided to contract a plane from a new company.

“After several flights, it was apparent that the company and plane could not perform as represented, and that there was a definite safety issue, especially in cold weather,” said Binder. Pet Airways, she indicated, has since switched back to its previous contractor, but needed to cancel “some flights during the holidays and into the new year” because that plane was committed elsewhere.

“We are a very new company that is pioneering, just as FedEx pioneered the overnight packaging business,” Binder said. “We have ups and downs, but we are keeping our eyes on the long-term goal of providing a safe and comfortable transportation option for the pets.”

The carrier ― which based on its recent schedule typically offers two eastbound routes a month and two westbound ones ― did not have any flights between Dec. 16 and Jan. 16, according to a regulatory filing, and it is unclear if it has had any flights since then. A New York Times reporter looking into the airline had reservations canceled twice, once in January and another last week.

Binder declined to comment on the last time Pet Airways operated a flight. The airline continues to take reservations.

But its financial picture also looks shaky. At the end of the year, the company had roughly $30,000 in cash on hand, and its “net monthly cash burn” is $25,000 to $55,000 a month. In the filing the company said it did “not currently have sufficient cash on hand to meet our financing needs.”

“We have experienced a history of losses and have yet to begin generating positive cash flows from operations and, as a result, our auditors have raised substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern,” the company wrote in the February regulatory filing.