Amid a string of embarrassing incidents, United Airlines said Tuesday that it is suspending its pet-shipping service — after a puppy died in an overhead bin and other pooches were shipped to wrong destinations.
“We are conducting a thorough and systematic review of our program for pets that travel in the cargo compartment to make improvements that will ensure the best possible experience for our customers and their pets,” the embattled airline said in a statement.
United spokesman Charles Hobart stressed that the airline is not ending the program as it consults independent experts in pet safety.
The airline’s PetSafe service allows passengers to ship their pets in the cargo holds for fees that can run several hundred dollars for a medium-sized or large dog.
United — which will honor PetSafe reservations that have already been confirmed — did not specify a date when it would resume the program. The airline said it expects to complete its review by May 1.
The move does not affect pets flying in the cabin with their owners.
The Chicago-based carrier diverted a plane to Akron, Ohio, on Thursday after realizing it had mistakenly loaded a dog aboard the flight from Newark Airport to St. Louis.
Two days earlier, United sent a Kansas City, Mo.-bound German shepherd to Japan after switching it with a Great Dane.
All three pets have since been reunited with their owners — but a Queens family wasn’t as lucky when their beloved French bulldog apparently suffocated aboard a Houston-to-New York City flight.
A flight attendant told Catalina Robledo and her daughter Sophia Ceballos, 11, to place their pet carrier in the overhead compartment, where little Kokito died.
United, which took full responsibility for the death, claimed the flight attendant “did not hear or understand” Robledo when she said there was a dog in the carrier.
The airline said it also was reviewing its service for in-cabin pets and will issue brightly colored tags to better identify them in carriers starting next month.
Last year, United reported the deaths of 18 animals on its planes, far higher than other major airlines, according to the Department of Transportation.
It carried about 42 percent more animals in the cargo hold in 2017 than in 2015, and it accounted for about 27 percent of all animals US airlines transported last year, according to the DOT.
With Post wires
