Greetings!  As promised, here's my trip report!
 
Well, I am glad to say that America West Airlines can truly be considered
a Ferret Friendly Airline!  I did not get one hassle from anyone!  When
we got to Logan Airport (BOSTON) and the America West terminal. I put
the cage (with Weasie & Farrah inside of course) on the counter and right
away mentioned I had a reservation for them. The attendant asked if I had
health papers, I handed him thier health certificates and rabies vaccine
certificates.  I was only (only?!!!) charged $50.00 (each way) for the
1 carry-on pet container (as opposed to the $50.00 per ferret each way,
that my Travel Agent was told...).  When we had our (family & ferrets)
boarding passes, I thanked the attendant and mentioned that I had kind
of anticipated a hassle.  He said no problem and thanked me for having
made the reservations in advance, that they (AW) appreciated it and
also that we arrived early (07:00pm for a 10:20pm flight) to get the
boarding passes pay for the ferrets.  The only thing he did ask was that
I not let them out of the cage, I mentioned something about "elderly
women" might be scared of them. I later learned what he meant. About
an hour later a LARGE entourage of elderly citizens arrived (most likely
a big package deal) for the same flight.  We got a few puzzled/curious
glances when people noticed the cage, some stopped to take a look. Most
of the comments were about how cute they were.  One woman cringed when
she peered in and I believe she said the "R" word, I told her they were
NO relation to rats/mice and that if she like kittens and puppies she
would probably like a ferret. I don't think I convinced her...  We were
sitting near the loading gate and just prior to loading the crew showed
up to board the plane.  One stewardess noticed and seemed delighted to
see them "Oh look, ferrets! How cute!" One of the pilots was standing
next to her and asked her what they were, she told him ferrets and he
rolled his eyes and looked away. Another stewardess asked what they were
as we were boarding the plane, I told her ferrets, she asked if they made
much noise. I told her no, she wouldn't even know they were on the plane.
I slid the cage under the seat in front of me and once we took off, attached
their water bottle.  They (Weasie & Farrah) did not appear too crazy about
takeoff, there was much clawing and biting at the cage.  Once we were cruising
though, they settled in and slept for most of the flight. When I noticed them
stirring, I talked to them and gave them raisens and they'd settle back in
to the next nap.
 
For the return flight (Vegas -> Boston), we arrived early again to get
boarding passes and pay for the ferrets.  When I put the cage on the
counter the attendant looked at them and knew what they were but was unsure
of AW's policy and asked the attendant next to him, "Ferrets?". He replied
yes, they just needed to see the health certificates. Again, no problems
and the attendants were very helpful and friendly.  He did ask as I was
leaving the counter, "Do you always travel with your pets?" I just replied,
"Nope, this is the first time." While we waited we got the usual
assortment of "Ferrets! They're sooooo cute!" to "What are those?" in
either the genuine curious tone or the repulsed tone. One man, from Mass.,
was curious becuase his daughter wants one and he didn't know much about them.
I gave him a breif overview and also handed him a flyer that I had. He was
aware that they were illegal in Mass and asked if I knew why. I told him of
general ignorance of the powers that be (ie., NH Health Dept.) where ferrets
are concerned. He seemed a little intrigued wth it.
 
Well, to cap it off, I must say I was very pleased with America West and thier
policy/handling of ferrets.  I just wish they'd get their planes/flight
schedules straightened out (two hour take-off delays are NOT fun! Especially
in a crowded, hot terminal.)  The ferrets were little troopers, they seemed
to take the travel well, except take-off of course!
 
My advice to anyone wishing to fly AW with your ferrets, call in advance to
set it up, get a reservation number for the ferrets and make sure you're clear
on their policy and the price. My initial experience in setting it up was that
it was a gray area and depended on who you talked to and how they interpreted
the policy. Once that was straightened out, everything was fine.
 
Well, gotta go! I've got two weeks worth of FML reading to catch up on!
 
Mark Ouellette
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[Posted in FML issue 0821]