NEVER entrust your pet to an airline. They simply do not care. A pet is cargo and that is as far as they are interested. In this case it was public pressure only that caused their continued "concern."

Chris, In this case it was public pressure only that caused their continued "concern."

You don't know that. Don't bring a downer to the situation; try to be happy for everyone involved.

Chris - totally wrong. Most personnel care a great deal about the little lives they are transporting - and lots have their own pets. This was an unfortunate incident - sometimes they happen.

Not always. "Airlines" employ people, and many of those people are animal lovers and owners. You'd be surprised how much some of those employees cared, and the amount of effort they put into searching for Jack.

Chris may have written strongly but he makes a valid point -- not every employee of every airline can be trusted with our precious companions. It is wise to expect the worst and be prepared.

Sometimes air travel must be done. However, it is unfortunate that the U.S. isn't civilized enough to have the rail service that is available in the EU. Generally speaking, companions are welcome on trains.

I'm surprised Jack didn't gain weight, from foraging the airport food, and probably from hand outs from traveler's. A two-month diet of McDonalds and pizza and bagels and who knows what....plus hanging around the bars all day....that will really put on the pounds.

And American Airlines as compensation is going to give to the owner of the cat two life time free courtesy airline vouchers to anywhere American Airline flies first class and another free lifetime flying voucher for the cat!

Chris, I had to ship a cat from Germany to Portland OR many years ago. He arrived on Friday and the man from Customs called me to tell me he had arrived, but I couldn't pick him up until Monday. Was there any special treats the guys could give him to tide him over until my arrival? they were very concerned bout my cat and took excellent care of him until they released him to me on Monday.

Most people genuinely care about pets and children. Adults, now, well, that's a whole different ball game ;-)

I am so excited to hear this news! It is the best thing I have read in the headlines in quite some time.

I am interested to hear though what he had been eating for the last two months. Is JFK infested with rodents?

Are you kidding? It's in NYC; Jack's probably been feasting on rats and pigeons.

Irene: It's in NYC; Jack's probably been feasting on rats and pigeons.

Cats who have been fed by humans don't necessarily consider pigeons and rats to be food; more like someone to play with.

Although cats take care of themselves very well and are extremely resilient, two months is a long time to go without food and water. I hope Jack shows he can rebound to his old self. What a great story!

I have flown my cats many times on American Airlines. First from Nebraska to Hawaii (one cat), then from Hawaii to Virginia (two cats), then once more from Virginia to Nebraska (four cats). No, I'm not a cat hoarder...but close! American always took great care of them and I never had any issues. This appears to just be one of those unfortunate accidents. Glad he was finally found and appears to be making a good recovery! Good luck trying to get him back on a plane, though! :-)

Public Pressure may not have been the only inspiration in the search; caring employees may have been a plus but ... What was the potential Insurance loss to the airline again? Once this hit the Internet, how many potential travelers with pets would have been lost? Lots of unlisted reasons that AA tried so hard to find Jack.

By the way; Jack, you're down by one with eight to go. Glad to see you've been found and in such good shape.

I have to agree with jonjojon. Bad PR from this probably caused AA to loose potential customers who need to transport their pets. With that said, the best PR damage control would be for AA to make it public that they were still "looking" for the cat and that it was "important" to them. Yes, important for their bottom line. Once the cat was found, they needed to dish out some benefits to the owner and cat for even more damage control. This helps the public to "perceive" that they "care". I'm not saying that individual associates weren't engaged and truly concerned, but top execs at AA were probably scrambling for the event to be over and how best to come out shinning in this very public event. With the use of twitter and facebook, issues like this can very rarely be "swept under the rug". This causes even more public pressure.

What a happy ending!!!

Jack is one tough kitty! Glad he will be reunited with his owner and will be safe. My next comment is not directed at AA in the least bit but instead to the airport security system, in general, regarding checking-in pets. When I had to check-in my cats in at LAX, they were required to inspect the cage - understandable.

However, my complaint is that they make you take the pet(s) out of their cages in the public, chaotic and loud security area. Maybe a dog can be put on a lease, but a cat ?? It's amazing that more pets are not lost in airports. (maybe they are, but we don't hear about it?) Why not have a small, private room - with a door, where they can check the cage? At least if the animal tries to escape, it will be confined and safe.

i think they should let the owner go to jack because when he hears her voice he will connect to her and know she is his owner and will get well sooner. does not every child love having his parents around when he or she is sick ? so will jack. just try it

Jack the cat, lost at JFK airport for two months, has been found alive and healthy.

and then they say:

Jack's owner, Karen Pasco, said he is in critical condition. "He's being administered fluids, has low blood pressure and is dealing with the effects of prolonged malnutrition

So, which is it?

i heard she thought he was dead so she moved on to another richer cat.

This remindes me of two tom hanks movies actually...

Though I have to wonder if AA would have been this pro-active had it not been for the 17,000 of us following this on Facebook and all the resulting publicity.

As I recall, the airline decided not to be so helpful...all the work was done by volunteers and, I am sure, personnel that cared...so glad he was found.

Heck yeah, with all the tuna and caviar he can eat.

....with all the tuna and caviar he can eat...Heck yeah...Jack will arrive in CA with a case of high-shooting diarrhea the owner is gonna love! LMAO

If Jack had been stuck on the roof, would someone have helped Jack off?

Puleeze!!!!!!!!!!!

@Sirlafalot,,, Hahahahahaha! I just spit my water out when I read that. Ahhhhh, that was funny,,,, "bad" but very funny! :)

Funny- if you are a 9 year old.

thats great!

Bobbie, I know your pain. I lost Sandy a year ago and still cry...same circumstances. That is why I volunteer at my shelter...I owe it to Sandy.

So true, I share your grief. I had to put one of my cats to sleep (she was 14+ years old) because of a tumor that developed in her stomach. It so broke my heart, I sat in car after I made the decision and cried for 15 minutes. My other cat passed away about 15 months later and I think some of it was because she was lonely and missed her companion. At least she passed away on her own terms while laying in my lap. Again I cried. i haven't brought myself to adopt any more cats afterwards, but that might change soon.

what kind of detective can't catch a cat? here is the fail safe method:

Ingredients:

1 Have-a-Heart Trap

1 Can of Tuna Fish

Directions:

Place tuna in trap

Place trap on ground

let bake for 1 night

remove cat from trap

pat, while I can't speak to the noise level in commercial aircraft cargo spaces, the cargo area is pressurized just like the passenger cabin. The fuselage of the aircraft is the pressure vessel and to only pressurize the upper half would not be practical. Additionally, if the cargo areas weren't pressurized no animal would survive any trip by commercial aircraft since most fly above 30,000 ft.

I am assuming you have one small animal. Airlines have limits on the total number of animals allowed in the passenger cabin and those must be in containers that can go under a seat. A 50 lb. dog just won't fit and some larger cats also can't go into such a container.

Finally, for anyone who is contemplating traveling with pets. Many airlines take into account weather conditions at the departure and arrival airports as well as stops in between. If conditions are expected to be too hot or too cold they may refuse to allow pets to be placed in cargo.

Whether you're an optimist and believe airlines really care about pets or you're a pessimist and believe they simply don't want to be sued, airlines really do want your pet to arrive at your destination healthy.

they must care about pets more then luggage then

Concerned, I'm sure you are correct. It's hard to generate a lot of sympathy over lost luggage but a lost, injured or dead animal is almost a sure court case.

Many airline employees are also pet owners.

i bet many more airline employees are luggage owners

I wondered when someone was going to pick up on that nuance. I totally agree with you