More pets fly with passengers on planes

Axios -  Increasingly must sit cheek to jowl with other people's pets, Axios correspondent Joann Muller reports. Industrywide statistics are hard to come by. But Delta alone reports that approximately half a million pets (excluding service animals) travel onboard every year. Service animals have always been allowed on planes. But over the years, airlines have had to accommodate a wider variety of creatures that travelers say they need for emotional or psychological support. After complaints from airline crews and passengers, the FAA in 2021 tightened the rules for service animals. Most airlines still allow passengers to travel with small dogs or cats, and in some cases birds.