PetmateSky Kennel - For Air and Travel, Airline Approved Dog Crate for Pets up 70-90 lbs, Heavy Duty Dog Kennel, Made in the USA- 40 Inches

I used this and the metal screw additional set to bring my pets to japan. I had a large one for the dog and a medium one for the cat. I didn't have any issues with Japan airlines.The crates were really spacious, and I feel like I could've bought smaller sizes because of how much room they actually had in there. It was easy to assemble and very sturdy. The design fit airline standards for international travel, but you will have to buy the extra kit for the screws.Both pets made it in one piece, so it served its purpose. The downside was that that take up too much space, so carrying them is impossible, you need a luggage cart. And then finding a vehicle to fit them in was expensive. We needed to rent a large van. And then no closet would fit them, so I had to disassemble them and store them outside, until I realized I really didn't need them, then I had to pay for large item pickup to dispose of them.

This was the only kennel I found that came closest to airline requirements. It is approved by the USDA and IATA. We were on a military move from the states so this a review on the international kennel features and requirements only.Kennel Features:This kennel has 11 plastic bolt holes- This is the only requirement that this kennel does not follow. It came with plastic nuts. Metal nuts and bolts are required now for every flight. This carrier has 11 bolt holes plus an additional 4 tie down holes. My airline specifically said that every hole must have a bolt. So we needed 15 metal nuts and screws for the carrier. Some airlines let you leave the 4 tie down holes empty but check to be sure and order the bolts ahead of time to get the right amount. We dind't do this and had to buy 3 kits because of shipping time limits. Metal bolts on amazon did not have prime option. But these are what you need Pet Carrier Metal Fasteners Nuts Bolts (1-1/4" Medium Bolts, 16 Pack) 16 pack will ensure a better safe than sorry amount.Has Pre drilled zip tie holes- Hard to find kennels with this already done. It is a requirement to zip tie the kennel doors shut. Quick release are best. Helping Hand Assorted Quick Release Nylon Cable Ties, 8-inch Make sure you insist on zip tying your dogs yourself! I watched the security guy do it wrong and had to redo do it myself. So glad I got the quick release. Same thing happened to a friend only they didn't catch that the attendant only thread it though the hole and not the door. Their dog got loose in the belly of the plane after ripping off the door. This brings me to the next feature.Has single piece metal door- Be sure to follow this guideline, a metal single piece door. No plastic allowed! Some larger kennel doors have a fold in the middle of the door to make packing easier. Some airlines don't specify the type of door needed and some forbid the fold. It gives the dog the ability to pull the door in which will then collapse and allows for escape. This kennel door is a solid one piece.Has protruding bar/side handles- This follows the requirement of "a spacer rim protruding at least 3/4 on all sides with ventilation openings"This is so the airline can carry and move the kennel without using the handle (known to fail on some kennels) and prevent a dog from being able to bite or contact movers hands. This kennel states that the rim is designed to work as side handles.Has 4 sides of air holes- Requirement is air holes must be "on all four sides at least halfway on each side". This kennel has it and even better metal grates! I had a friend whose dog chewed the space between the plastic holes during flight. Some kennels show in the picture that they have air holes in the back but come to find after ordering they didn't have the air holes on the backside in the smaller sizes. Especially for cat carriers. Note- Domestic flights only requires 2 vent sides but they stack and pack kennels like baggage and airflow will be restricted. Go with ventilation on all sides.Food Dishes- These were actually deep enough to be functional. Kennels with dishes attached inside on the walls are not allowed. Airlines must be able to "access dishes attached to door without opening the kennel door" they do this through funnels. On my main international flight with 2 layovers and a total of 20 hours travel they did not feed or water my dogs once. Even though it's the law. My advice freeze water ahead of flight so it doesn't make a mess or even better get a lixit water bottle to ensure your dogs don't dehydrate. We got Lixit Small Dog Water Bottle 16-OunceStickers- This kennel came with stickers and that is a requirement but airlines have them and will use their own as well. The stickers included are crap and leave an awful residue. The airlines put the sticker packet of paper work over the " "Live Animal" in 1-inch letters on the crate's top" required sticker. Upon removal of that it lifted the sticker below mucking up the brand new kennels. My advice, bring the stickers and apply at check in where they are needed once the paperwork covers the entire top of kennel and use airline stickers if possible.Note for size- The length requirement for international travel is [their length + half their leg] so there must be ample room in front and back. This made us need the larger kennel which is much larger than our previous kennel. Some will say that the rule of thumb is as long as they can turn around it's okay. But that is the length rule for IATA. Height for IATA includes ears and ears cannot touch top of kennel while standing. Again, why we had to go up a size (dang chihuahuas). After traveling with my pets on over 6 different flights I can say that most airline attendants are clueless about the pet requirements needed. I had one tell me they don't even receive training on the requirements and offered to let both dogs go into one kennel (a international no no). But I did have had one who knew their stuff and used a tape measure. So better safe than sorry!Traveling with your pet no matter how far is stress full. With international flights being long dogs get anxious and try to escape, sometimes successfully in cheep kennels. So get this one! Airlines have different requirements and regulations. It's better to buy new then to try to modify existing kennels. Save yourself the time! Get this kennel and you only need to purchase zip ties (hand release are best), metal bolts, and some puppy pads. I realize this is much more info than necessary for a review but I know how hard it was getting this information. Please check this as helpful so that it may help others in the complicated kennel requirement process. Safe Travels!

The media could not be loaded. I was a little bit skeptical about purchasing this item and wanted to confirm it met all the requirements with the Airline. I’ve never flown with my pet before, but this kennel was very sturdy, spacious and easy to assemble. I recommend it to anyone who’s planning on traveling with their pet.

We had an older version of this same kennel, with very solid-feeling plastic walls. This new version seemed noticeably flimsier material - ie, with light to moderate pressure on top or sides, you could easily get the material to buckle slightly, form a concave depression, which returns back to flat with release of pressure. However, we had to get an obese cat from the west coast to New Orleans by air cargo, and this ended up working just fine. We were assured by the airlines nothing would be stacked on top of it.Our older version, however, had no window or holes in the back, and we ended up using this new one for the added assurance of better ventilation. Most importantly, once assembled, the gate and closure mechanism felt very secure.The cat weighed 18-19 lbs, so a little over the recommended weight capacity (15 lbs) for the size small Sky Kennel, but we went with that. He had plenty of room to stand up, turn around, etc;Assembly of the crate was very easy, really hardly required the instructions that accompanied the kennel. The provided plastic + metal/plastic wingnuts seemed lightweight, but they did hold up for this trip; (BTW, airline did NOT check to see what they were comprised of at check in.), and at destination did not appear to have loosened at all.After scouring the internet, and the Alaska Airlines website for cargo kennel specs, and 2 phone calls to airline reps (who didn't know any more than was on the website; sometimes less) - we finally opted to drill holes in the upper and lower "lips" or edges of the plastic border surrounding the metal grill door, for the purposes of having 4 , releasable zip ties that secure the door to the frame, as stated in the kennel specs online.These holes are NOT already present in the size small kennel, but it was easy to make them. Integrity of surrounding plastic remained very good, after holes drilled. Note: the Alaska website says something like "must use original holes" for securing the ties; however, the airlines (at least at SEA) either didn't know what that meant, or didn't care that we created these holes ourselves. One rep told me that this instruction was intended to prevent all kinds of other customer modifications that might weaken the structure of a kennel; another one said they didn't know anything about the requirement.The only person at Alaska at check-in who even looked at the zip-ties was the security person who was scanning kennels for hidden illegal items, and he just was trying to figure out whether to have me remove them temporarily to open the door (to use the wand inside). After staring at our somewhat insolent, angry obese tabby for a moment, he opted not to have the door opened. (good decision).Kennel made it to NO in good condition; other than Alaska at the New Orleans end not being able to find our cat and someone else's dog right away (they were taken to wrong end of baggage claim), no mishaps, no kennel dents or dings.This kennel seems perfectly adequate for single-leg flights within USA; the provided food/water dispenser was ok, but really requires more zip ties to secure to grate if you want it to stay in place.Would have been nice to have pre-drilled holes in the plastic door frame for the zip-ties that I think every airline requires, but it's an easy DIY. The ventilating holes in the back side were really nice for our cat to be able to see out all sides, but not enough to make him feel exposed.The stickers provided with kennel were fine, but I was glad we had an extra Live Animal sticker. Except for briefly (~ 45 min.) misplacing the cat at destination airport, we were very pleased with the handling by Alaska; especially the notification, brought to our seat after boarding, that our pet had been loaded on board and doing well.