The team at Veterinarians.org has sniffled around and gathered statistics on which U.S. airlines have the best record when it comes to pet care.

Incidents include the death, injury, or loss of a pet. Rates are based on the number of incidents per 10,000 animals transported.

Alaska Airlines transported over 730,000 animals between January 2015 and December 2020 (the highest number among all airlines), while maintaining an average incident rate of 0.26.

This is more than 6 times lower than the average incident rate of United Airlines during the same time period.

In 2020 alone, Alaska Airlines transported 107,042 animals with zero reported incidents that year.

Other airlines that transported over 10,000 animals in 2020 while maintaining a 0 incident rate include: Horizon Air, Skywest Airlines, and Envoy Air.

Since 2015, Horizon Air has transported over 130,000 animals and has maintained a 0 incident rate every year through 2020.

Between January 2015 and December 2020, the airline with the highest average incident rate is Hawaiian Airlines, with an average incident rate of 2.03 (out of a total of 55,906 animals transported during this period), while among airlines that transported more than 10,000 animals in a single year.

United Airlines comes out on top with an average incident rate of 1.6 (out of a total of 448,654 animals transported between January 2015 and December 2020), with Delta closely following at 1.05 (out of a total of 371,689 animals transported) and American Airlines coming in third at 0.71 (out of a total of 405,719 animals transported).

Since 2015, no other airline has appeared in the Top 3 for highest incident rates more than United Airlines, which has made the list every single year.

United Airlines, which has transported over 448,000 animals since 2015, has recorded the highest number of pet deaths (40/45 per cent of the total number of pet deaths across all airlines) and pet injuries (42 – more than 50 per cent of the total number of pet injuries across all airlines) of any other airline between January 2015 and December 2020.

Delta and American Airlines also place in the Top 3 for carriers with the most reported pet deaths and pet injuries since 2015.

Best Airlines:

Horizon Air:

Since 2015, Horizon Air has transported over 130,000 animals and has maintained a zero incident rate every year through 2020.

Alaska Airlines:

In 2020 alone, Alaska Airlines transported 107,042 animals with zero reported incidents that year.

Other airlines that transported over 10,000 animals in 2020 while maintaining a zero incident rate include: Skywest Airlines and Envoy Air.

Worst Airlines:

Hawaiian Airlines:

In 2020, Hawaiian Airlines transported 9,302 animals with an incident rate of 2.15.

Delta Airlines:

Transported 18,934 animals with an incident rate of 1.06 in 2020.

United Airlines:

In 2020, United Airlines transported 10,152 animals with an 0.99 incident rate. United Airlines, which has transported over 448,000 animals between 2015 & 2020, has recorded the highest number of pet deaths at 45 (40 per cent of the total number of pet deaths across all airlines).

American Airlines:

With 80,817 animals transported in 2020, American Airlines had an incident rate of 0.62.

Carriers with the Highest Number of Pet Deaths:

Between January 2015 and December 2020, there were a total of 112 pet deaths reported by airlines to the Department of Transportation.

During this period, the airlines with the highest number of reported deaths were:

United Airlines: 45
American Airlines: 16
Delta Airlines: 27

Carriers with the Highest Number of Pet Injuries:

Between January 2015 and December 2020, there were a total number of 81 pet injuries reported by airlines to the Department of Transportation.

During this period, the airlines with the highest number of reported injuries were:

United Airlines: 42
Delta Airlines: 14
American Airlines: 11

Carriers with the Highest Number of Lost Pets:

Between January 2015 and December 2020, there were a total of 4 lost pets reported by airlines to the Department of Transportation.

During this period, the airlines with the highest number of reported losses were:

Delta Airlines: 2
American Airlines: 1
Alaska Airlines: 1

Veterinarians.org says based on the data, the Special Report Team’s analysis shows that Alaska Airlines, despite transporting over 730,000 animals between January 2015 and December 2020, has managed to maintain an average incident rate of 0.26.

Therefore, is the best airline to take care of your pet next time you travel in the United States.