Having grown up with Labrador and Golden Retrievers, Benton Miller has always considered dogs to be part of the family rather than just pets.
When he and his wife brought home their two Labradors, Maple and Willow, they pictured a life filled with shared travel and adventure. Yet every time they tried to fly with their dogs, they ran into confusing airline rules, safety concerns and restrictions that made the experience stressful.
“When you start researching, it’s really interesting because you have federal laws, you have state laws, you have different rules and regulations from each airline, and then you have different FAA regulations within all that. There’s no one cookie-cutter way to figure out how to fly with your dog,” Miller said.
“There was no option really for us, except for driving. So, the ‘aha’ moment for me was, ‘there’s got to be a better way of doing this.’”
Pet air travel has grown significantly over the past decade, with an estimated 2 million domestic animals flying on commercial airlines in the United States each year.
The increasing demand for pet-friendly travel has led to expanded accommodations at Denver International Airport and inspired the launch of dedicated pet travel services like Bark Air, K9 Jets and now Miller’s company, RetrievAir, which celebrated its first flights in May.
Knowing that dogs share only about 12 years with their humans, Miller, a Minnesota resident, said he was determined to make every moment count.
He imagined a world where pets could travel as freely and comfortably as their owners, without being confined to cargo holds or cramped crates.
Alongside co-founder and veteran airline executive Mark Williams, this vision became the foundation for RetrievAir, a pet-first public charter airline dedicated entirely to in-cabin pet travel.
RetrievAir avoids large jets and the chaos of busy commercial terminals by partnering with charter operators like RVR Aviation.
Their 30-seat regional planes are arranged to provide a cabin where pets of all sizes, from tiny breeds to Great Danes, can travel alongside their owners.
With an average ticket price of $775 per seat, passengers and pets can enjoy in-flight perks such as complimentary snacks and restroom breaks every two hours.
“I think I have done those cross-country trips seven to eight times, and they get so expensive, they take so much time, and I’m worried about (my pet’s) limbs being sat in the back seat of my car for so long,” said RetrievAir’s Head of Customer Experience and Social Impact, Annelise Ingram, who has traveled to with her Saint Bernard mix, Professor, on trips to North Carolina and Texas.
“When I heard Benton was starting this company, I just thought, what a wonderful cause, and how much help and impact it could have for people like myself.”
RetrievAir serves cities including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale and even Denver, which operates out of the Centennial Airport, according to their website.
It plans to expand in 2026 to additional destinations, including Scottsdale, Ariz.; Washington, D.C.; Seattle; San Francisco; Atlanta and Tampa Bay.
However, Ingram said RetrievAir isn’t just about traveling. She said they recently launched a program that offers discounted or sometimes free seats to rescue dogs traveling across state lines to reach their forever homes or shelters with better chances of adoption.
She said they work closely with a Los Angeles–based nonprofit dog rescue organization called Ace of Hearts, and that in July, they partnered with The Sato Project on a rescue flight, moving 37 dogs from Puerto Rico to the New York area.
“In total, I think we have helped about 65 dogs get transported so far,” Ingram said.
“We just aim to keep growing that, keep making connections within the animal welfare space and multiplying that impact, because the shelters are doing this really great work on their own already, and we want to be a tool and use our resources to help them do that.”
Miller, alongside co-founder Williams, also recently went on ABC’s Shark Tank. The duo secured a deal with American internet entrepreneur and investor Alexis Ohanian, who invested $776,000 for a 15% equity stake in the company.
Furry friends take over the airport
Pets are not only transforming the way we travel by air, but they are also reshaping how airports operate.
DIA ranks among the world’s busiest airports, with more than 82.4 million passengers in 2024.
In 2023, DIA’s carriers served 77.8 million passengers, a 12.3% increase from the nearly 70 million served in 2022. DIA’s Volunteer Program Manager Karla Grahn said she has noticed a steady rise in travelers bringing pets through the airport each year.
Colorado ranks among the top states for devoted dog owners, with Virginia, Georgia, Alaska and Nevada close behind, according to research published by Forbes in January.
In 2024, 50% of Denverites said they own a dog in their household, 27% said they own a cat and 32% said they have a pet-free abode.
DIA launched its Canine Airport Therapy Squad program in 2015.
“I think it was really the start of, ‘how do we make the airport inclusive for pets?’” Grahn said.
“Adding pet relief areas to the concourses wasn’t really a conversation until we really started adding volunteers.”
The DEN CATS program uses certified therapy animals to reduce passenger stress. It began with 28 animals and now has 136 volunteers across 67 breeds, including 30 mixed breeds. The program’s sole feline, Xeli, joined in 2017.
Canine Airport Therapy squad dog handler Lisa Cole introduces Yoyo the chihuahua to CAT dog Sampson, right, at the 3rd annual Denver Puppy Bowl at Denver International Airport Feb. 02, 2018. (File photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Over the years, approximately 400 animal-owner teams have volunteered their time, contributing more than 3,500 hours in 2025 alone and more than 24,000 hours since its inception. Five of the original members of the DEN CATS team remain active in the program today.
In October, the airport celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the program. To mark the milestone and honor a decade of service to the countless passengers traveling through DIA, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston officially declared Oct. 29 as “DEN Canine Airport Therapy Squad Day” in the City and County of Denver.
“A lot of times, airports are so stressful, but adding an animal, a dog, just brings a different level of friendliness, reducing that stress,” Grahn said.
“It grew so quickly and was such a popular program that it was something that we could never say, ‘oh, we need to walk away from this, or it isn’t successful.’ It just continued to grow and be more and more successful.”
As a result, she said the program has gotten so popular that it has held the Guinness World Records title for ‘Largest Airport Therapy Animal Program’ for nearly four years.
All animals are registered with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs or Pet Partners and are trained, certified and insured, with the equivalent of one year’s experience in an approved therapy program prior to volunteering at DIA.
Grahn said the program highlights how pets are increasingly part of everyday life and emphasizes the growing trend of traveling with animal companions.
Over the years, the airport has expanded its pet-friendly amenities, including adding a total of 14 pet relief areas spread across multiple terminals.
The DIA started with just one in the main terminal when the Westin Hotel opened, gradually adding more in the concourse center core areas as demand grew. With the airport’s concourse expansions and the addition of outdoor patios, pet relief areas were also included in each sub-core and on every outdoor patio.
Indoor pet relief rooms feature artificial turf flooring with a drainage system and an artificial rock. The rooms also include waste bags, disposal containers, a wall-mounted sink with soap dispenser, an automatic hand dryer and a paper towel dispenser.
Grahn she hopes the program can continue to grow and eventually would like to add more volunteers and more cats to the program. She also said the airport has plans to add more pet relief areas as it expands in the future. The airport is also conveniently located near a Wag Hotels at 24735 E. 75th Ave., offering a variety of services, including hotel-style boarding, doggie daycare and grooming services.
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