The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has guidelines regarding bringing a pet on the cabin of a plane but in addition to their regulations, the FAA allows each airline to decide if they will allow pets in the passenger cabin. So when considering taking your pet on the plane you must check the FAA guidelines and contact your airline to see if they allow pets on the plane and what the airline has for specific rules with pets in the cabin.
If an airline allows you to bring your pet into the cabin, the pet container is considered to be carry-on baggage and therefore must follow carry on baggage rules. rules (14 CFR part 121, section 121.589):
These are general guidelines:
Normally pets measuring up to 18 inches from tip of nose to base of tail and weight up to 12 pound should be able to go in the cabin but this is totally depended on the specific airlines polices.
- The pet container must be small enough to fit underneath the seat without blocking any person's path to the main aisle of the airplane. It must have a waterproof bottom, adequate ventilation with at least two sides of the pets container having mesh ventilation, the container must close with zippers, not snaps or Velcro, and the entire pet must be inside the carrier.
- The pet container must be stowed properly before the last passenger entry door to the airplane is closed in order for the airplane to leave the gate.
- The pet container must remain properly stowed the entire time the airplane is moving on the airport surface, and for take off and landing.
- You must follow flight attendant instructions regarding the proper stowage of your pet container.
- The pet must be able to stand up and turn around comfortable in the carrier. Generally a hard sided carrier can measure 17" in length, 11 inches in width ad 7.5 inches high and soft sided containers can measure 17" in length, 11" in width and 9.5" high
Please remember these are general guidelines and it is imperative to check with your airline for their specific policies because the regulations vary with each airline.
More specifics regulations of the FAA can be found at https://www.faa.gov/travelers/fly_pets and guidelines from the Air Transport Association that regulates live animal travel can be found at https://www.iata.org/en/programs/cargo/live-animals . https://www.getkennel.com