Jenna Miller
Benton Miller, the founder of RetrievAir, with his dogs.
There’s a moment — every pet parent knows it. Suitcase packed, door cracked open, tail wagging, eyes pleading. It’s the look that says, “Take me with you.” And for too long, that look has been met with a sigh and a guilt-ridden goodbye. Because flying with a pet? A maze of rules, restrictions, and impossible choices. Cargo? Unthinkable. Private flights? Pricey beyond reason. Road trips? An endurance test in snack crumbs and gas station stops.
Enter RetrievAir, an air service company built not just for travelers but also for their four-legged copilots.
Keller High School alum Benton Miller, the man behind the mission, knows the struggle all too well. He and his wife, Whitney, a Mesquite native, have spent years planning their lives around two key factors: their two Labrador Retrievers, Willow and Maple, and the limitations of pet travel. Every trip meant a painful decision — grueling road journeys, missed family moments, or the heartbreaking option of leaving their dogs behind. Until one day, they decided: no more. If the airline industry wasn’t going to make room for pets, they’d make one themselves.
So they did.
But RetrievAir isn’t an airline — it’s an air service that runs along with an airline to create the ultimate pet-friendly experience. Flights operate out of smaller airports, skipping the chaos and anxiety of major hubs. No TSA lines, no hurried security checks. Just a calm, streamlined process designed for humans and their pets to board side by side.
Once on board, it’s a whole new world. No tiny crates, no cargo holds. Pets — big and small — settle into their own seats next to their humans. The 30-seat regional jets have been designed with extra space because, let’s face it, Great Danes and Golden Retrievers aren’t built for coach. Flight attendants? Trained in canine behavior. In-flight service? Water bowls, treats, and belly rubs for the pups; coffee, snacks, and something a little stronger for the humans.
On the brand’s inaugural flight, the passenger list included three Golden Retrievers, two Great Danes, and one Labrador — dogs who, on any other airline, would have been banished to cargo. Instead, they stretched out, snoozed, and soaked in the experience. Miller recalls looking around the cabin and thinking, “This is how it’s supposed to be.”
But bringing this vision to life took more than just a dream. Funding and logistics were major hurdles, but RetrievAir found a way to make it work — by operating as a public charter, not a traditional airline.
"The way we kind of viewed our business model though is we've been able to decrease our fixed costs by focusing on being a public charter operator, not an airline," Miller verifies. "And so what that means is we don't own nor do we operate any of the planes. And we were able to work with [co-founder] Mark William’s connections in the airline industry to figure out who had the right planes with the right LOPAs, which is basically the seating configuration within the plane, for us to hit the price point we want to the market while making sure that we're catering and providing the best experience possible. Through that, we were able to find funding, we were able to find the right partners— RVR Aviation out of Arlington — which is perfect for us to be able to kick off the ground running.”
As for investors? The demand spoke for itself.
“People love pets, and there are more pets now in the United States than there are kids, really," Miller continued. "82 % of dog owners worry about their pup when traveling. And 64% of millennial pet owners choose not to travel because they don't want to leave their pet behind.”
Flying on RetrievAir won’t come cheap — seats will average around $750 per ticket. But for pet parents used to shelling out hundreds for boarding or navigating the endless frustration of commercial pet travel, it’s a fair trade.
And the excitement is already taking off. The airline will announce its first official routes this spring, with flights launching in May. RetrievAir’s waitlist has already climbed past 3,500 names, and their Instagram following has jumped to nearly 10,000 in just days. Clearly, the world is ready for a better way to fly with their pets.
So the next time you’re packing your bags, picture this: a tail wagging next to you, a soft head resting on your lap, a journey taken together. No more goodbyes at the door. Just you and your best friend, boarding a plane, side by side, ready to chase adventure.
Want in? Join the waitlist now at RetrievAir.com or follow @FlyRetrievAir for updates on routes and booking.
