Stranger than fiction: It’s now possible for both your luggage and your pets to have a much better flying experience than you do.

You’ve probably seen airlines like United promoting the use of Fedex to deliver your luggage (pushing the cost of this service from them to you). As of this week, there’s a new airline devoted strictly to transporting your pets safely and comfortably through the air.

Pet Airways started operating this week with 5 daily flights, soon to be serving as many as 25 cities, and prices that are quite competitive to what you’d pay a regular airline transport your pet.

The difference is that w/Pet Airways your furry companion flies in the main cabin, with specially trained flight attendants who check on his well-being every 15 minutes or so, and make sure Fido gets to his destination in one piece. To start, some destinations may require a stop-over, but Pet Airwayws will include food, water, exercise and bathroom breaks for the pet.

What a great idea…another innovative service being launched in spite of the current economic conditions. Which just goes to show that if you are creative, you can find and exploit market niches that are currently not being served–in any economic situation.

There’s no word yet on how they’ll figure out who gets to sit in the exit rows or how exactly to handle the safety briefings (chew on your own mask before chewing on the ones of the passengers around you?), or even how to handle those Great Danes who want to stretch their legs. But security should be quite streamlined–no shoes to remove!