Last Updated: 15th September 2026
Written by Shaun, Managing Director and co-founder of Departure Pets – with lifelong experience in animal care and formal qualifications in animal handling and behaviour.
While most pets travel exactly as scheduled, there are some situations where a pet may be unable to board their booked flight. These decisions are never made lightly, and are always based on the safety and welfare of the animal.
If your pet is unable to travel as planned, the airline will notify Departure Pets as early as operationally possible, and our team will begin coordinating the next available travel option as soon as we receive that notification.
As soon as the airline advises us, our team begins coordinating the safest and most appropriate next steps for your pet and will contact you as soon as we have the information required to provide a meaningful update.
Key Takeaways
- Late check-in is one of the most common causes. Domestic pet lodgement opens 2 hours before departure and closes strictly 90 minutes before, leaving only a 30-minute window to complete paperwork, crate transfers and welfare checks.
- A pet may miss their flight if they’ve soiled their crate. Urination during travel is fine, but faecal soiling means the crate needs to be cleaned before the pet can be accepted, which isn’t always possible in the time available.
- On rare occasions, unexpected excess passenger baggage can reduce the cargo space allocated to live animals, which may result in a pet being rebooked.
- A technical fault affecting the cargo hold, such as air conditioning, ventilation or pressurisation, means pets can’t be loaded until it’s resolved or another aircraft is provided.
- Airlines continuously monitor animal welfare right up until loading, and can withdraw a pet from travel at any point if there are genuine concerns, even after check-in.
- If your pet is unable to travel, the airline notifies Departure Pets as early as operationally possible, and we coordinate the next steps, including rebooking, a comfort stop, or care at one of our Departure Lounges.
- Notification isn’t instant. Airlines can only tell us once ground staff have managed the situation and completed their internal reporting – for issues identified during final loading, this can take up to around 30 minutes, and in some cases the aircraft may have already departed by the time we’re notified.
When Will I Be Notified About a Disruption?
How quickly we can let you know about a disruption depends entirely on when the airline or ground handling team is able to notify Departure Pets. This isn’t always instant, particularly when something happens during the final stages of loading.
For example, if an issue such as crate soiling is identified once your pet has reached final loading, the ground handling team’s immediate priority is managing your pet, the aircraft and the operational situation safely. They aren’t able to report the disruption to us until they’ve returned to the cargo facility and completed the airline’s internal reporting process.
Final loading typically takes place around 20 minutes before departure. Because of this, there can be a delay of up to around 30 minutes between an issue first being identified and Departure Pets receiving notification. In some circumstances, this means the aircraft may have already departed by the time we’re advised that your pet hasn’t travelled.
We understand this gap can be unsettling, but please be assured we contact you and begin coordinating the safest next steps the moment we’re notified. The short delay reflects the airline’s operational process, not a delay on our part.
Could My Pet Miss Their Flight for Arriving Late to Check-In?
For domestic flights, airline pet lodgement opens 2 hours before departure and closes strictly 90 minutes before departure.
This means there is only a 30-minute check-in window for completing paperwork, transferring your pet into their travel crate (if required), conducting welfare checks, and accepting the animal into the airline’s care.
For this reason, we strongly recommend arriving as close as possible to the 2-hour check-in time.
If you arrive closer to the 90-minute cut-off and there are any delays, such as paperwork taking longer than expected, difficulty transferring your pet into their travel crate, or unexpected queues at the cargo terminal, your pet may unfortunately miss the flight.
What Happens if My Pet Soils Their Crate Before Departure?
Although pets are live animals and accidents can happen, one of the most common reasons a pet may miss their flight is if they defecate in their crate before departure.
While urination is perfectly acceptable during travel, faecal soiling is not.
For this reason, we recommend following our pre-travel feeding guidelines and fasting your pet where appropriate.
If airline staff detect faeces in the crate before the aircraft departs, they have a responsibility under their live animal welfare procedures to ensure the pet is not confined in a soiled crate for the duration of the flight. This would be considered an animal welfare risk.
The challenge is that once your pet has been accepted into the airline’s care, airline staff are not authorised to open travel crates or handle animals outside of their crate. This means they cannot simply clean the crate themselves.
Instead, they must contact the person who dropped your pet at the airport and request they return to clean and prepare the crate before the pet can be accepted for travel again.
If this occurs close to the scheduled departure time, there may not be enough time to complete the cleaning process before the aircraft departs, resulting in your pet being rebooked onto the next available flight. Choosing the right travel crate, correctly sized for your pet, also makes a difference to how settled they are before departure.
Can Excess Passenger Baggage Affect My Pet’s Flight?
Although uncommon, there are rare occasions where an aircraft departs with significantly more passenger baggage than originally forecast.
Aircraft cargo holds have strict weight and space limitations that are shared between passenger luggage, freight and live animals. If an unexpected volume of excess passenger baggage is checked in on the day of travel, it can reduce the space that had been allocated for live animal consignments.
If this occurs, the airline may be forced to remove one or more pets from the flight and rebook them onto the next available service.
While understandably disappointing, these decisions are made to ensure the aircraft remains within its certified operating limits, such as take off weight maximum.
What if There’s a Technical Fault With the Aircraft?
Before every flight, aircraft engineers complete a series of safety inspections.
If engineers identify a fault affecting systems critical to the cargo compartment, such as air conditioning, ventilation or cabin pressurisation, the aircraft will not be permitted to transport live animals until the fault has been rectified or another suitable aircraft is provided.
Even if the aircraft is approved to carry passengers, pets will not be loaded if the airline cannot guarantee a safe environment within the cargo hold.
What Are the Animal Welfare Considerations Before My Pet Is Loaded?
Airlines also reserve the right to refuse transport if they have concerns about a pet’s welfare at any stage of the journey, from check-in right up until the aircraft is loaded for departure. This may include signs of illness, injury, overheating, inappropriate sedation, extreme anxiety or distress, or if the travel crate does not comply with airline and IATA requirements.
One of the most significant welfare considerations is your pet’s behaviour and stress level.
While it is completely normal for pets to be a little nervous in an unfamiliar environment, airline staff are trained to recognise when a pet is experiencing a level of stress that may compromise its welfare during flight. If a pet is showing signs of extreme distress while waiting in the airline’s animal holding area, such as persistent panic, frantic escape attempts, severe respiratory distress, self-injury, or other behaviours indicating they are not coping, the airline may determine that the pet is no longer fit to travel.
Importantly, this assessment is not limited to the time of check-in. Airline staff continue monitoring pets while they remain in the cargo facility and can decide at any point before loading the aircraft that it is no longer appropriate for the pet to travel.
This is because, once the aircraft departs, there is no ability for airline personnel to monitor or assist pets during the flight. Unlike the passenger cabin, the cargo hold cannot be accessed while the aircraft is airborne. The only access to the cargo compartment is through the external cargo doors on the outside of the aircraft, making it impossible for crew to intervene if an animal experiences significant distress during the journey.
For this reason, airline staff must be satisfied that every pet is coping appropriately before they are loaded onto the aircraft. If there are genuine concerns that a pet’s stress level poses a risk to its welfare during the flight, the airline may withdraw the pet from travel, even if it has already been checked in and accepted earlier.
While this can be understandably disappointing, these decisions are never made lightly. They are based solely on the welfare of the animal and reflect the airline’s legal and ethical responsibility to ensure every pet can complete the journey safely.
If this occurs, the airline will notify Departure Pets as early as operationally possible, and we’ll work with the airline to determine the safest next steps, whether that involves collecting your pet, arranging appropriate care, coordinating travel on a later flight once your pet is fit to continue, or potentially arranging other transport alternatives altogether.
What Happens if My Pet Misses Their Flight?
If your pet is unable to travel on their scheduled flight for any of the reasons outlined above, the airline will notify Departure Pets as early as operationally possible.
As soon as we receive that notification, our team begins coordinating the safest and most appropriate solution for your pet. The exact course of action will depend on the reason your pet was unable to travel, where they are located, the time of day, and the next available flight options.
This may include:
- Rebooking your pet onto the next available suitable flight.
- Arranging a mandatory comfort stop or overnight stay at one of our Departure Lounges or trusted agent facilities until onward travel can be arranged.
- Reorganising connecting flights, airport collections, home deliveries or other transport services affected by the disruption.
- Liaising directly with the airline and keeping you informed of any changes to your pet’s itinerary.
If your pet is still at the airport when the disruption occurs, they will never simply be left unattended. Depending on the circumstances, they will either remain safely in the airline’s care or, where appropriate, be collected by one of our trusted pet handlers and transferred to a Departure Pets Departure Lounge or approved care facility until they are ready to continue their journey.
We understand that having your pet miss a flight can be incredibly disappointing and stressful, particularly when the circumstances are outside your control. However, these decisions are never made lightly.
Whether the reason is an animal welfare concern, an engineering issue with the aircraft, operational limitations, or an unexpected disruption, every decision made by the airline is based on one principle: if there is any doubt that a pet can be transported safely, they will not be loaded onto the aircraft.
Although this may result in a delay to your pet’s journey, it is always considered the safer alternative.
Will My Pet Be Left Alone if They Miss Their Flight?
No. However, what happens next will depend on who originally checked your pet in for their flight and why they were unable to travel.
If you or your nominated person lodged your pet directly with the airline, the airline will generally contact you first if your pet cannot travel and ask you to return to the airport where necessary.
For example:
- Crate soiling: If your pet has soiled their crate, you may be asked to return to the airport to clean and prepare the crate before your pet can be considered for another flight.
- Late lodgement: If you arrive after the airline’s check-in cut-off, your pet cannot be accepted into the airline’s care, so you will need to retain your pet and make arrangements for the next available flight.
- Airline or aircraft disruption: If your pet has already been checked in but can no longer travel due to an aircraft or network disruption, you may be asked to return to the airport to collect your pet and then return for lodgement for the rescheduled flight.
For this reason, we strongly recommend remaining close to the airport until your pet’s flight has departed. Although uncommon, disruptions can occur during the final stages of loading, and the airline may need you to return at short notice.
If the airline requires you to return and you are unable to do so, Departure Pets may need to arrange for one of our pet handlers to intervene on your behalf. Any additional collection, handling, transport or care required in these circumstances will be at the owner’s expense.
The exception is when Departure Pets originally lodged your pet with the airline on your behalf, such as when we collected your pet from a residence or your pet was staying in our care prior to departure. In this situation, Departure Pets has assumed responsibility for your pet and the airline will contact our team if intervention is required.
Where your pet was already in our care, there is no additional charge for us to return to the airport and manage the immediate disruption on your behalf. Additional charges would only apply where the disruption results in services beyond the original day of travel, such as an additional night of boarding or other newly required services.
Ready to Arrange Your Pet’s Domestic Flight?
Understanding what can affect a pet’s travel day is part of feeling confident about the process. If you’d like to see how the whole journey fits together, our how pet travel works page is a good place to start, and you can read what our customers are saying about travelling with us.
If you’re relocating as part of an ADF posting, our ADF and defence member pet transport page has information specific to defence families, and you can request a domestic quote here to get started.
Pet Travel Safety FAQs
What is the check-in window for a domestic pet flight?
Domestic pet lodgement opens 2 hours before departure and closes strictly 90 minutes before departure, giving a 30-minute window to complete paperwork, crate transfers and welfare checks. We recommend arriving as close to the 2-hour mark as possible.
Can my pet still travel if they’ve soiled their crate?
Urination during travel and prior to departure is fine, but faecal soiling is not. If this happens before departure, the crate needs to be cleaned and the person who dropped the pet off may need to return to do so. If there isn’t enough time before departure, the pet will be rebooked onto the next available flight.
What happens if the airline decides my pet isn’t fit to travel on the day?
Airline staff continue to monitor your pet’s welfare right up until loading and may withdraw a pet from travel if genuine welfare concerns arise, even after check-in. If this occurs, the airline will notify Departure Pets as early as operationally possible. Where a decision is made during final loading, there can be a delay while ground staff manage the situation and report it through the airline’s internal processes. As soon as we’re notified, we’ll begin coordinating the safest next steps for your pet.
Does missing a flight affect my other travel arrangements, like transfers or comfort stops?
It can. If your pet misses their scheduled flight, our team will reorganise any connecting flights, airport collections, home deliveries or comfort stops affected by the change, and keep you informed of the updated itinerary throughout.
Airline policies, government regulations and industry requirements can change over time. This article reflects information current as of the date above. For the latest requirements specific to your pet’s journey, please contact your Departure Pets consultant.