Your comment made me curious about how dogs usually travel in airplanes, and some googling later: me thinks not being in a box in economy already is the equivalent to first class…

I found some hilarious guidelines, saying that pets can travel in a box that fits under the seat in front of yours. That’s like a 40cm/1 foot space. I’d not even want the tiniest of dogs to travel like that.

Other ways are more like checked baggage, also in a box of course, and unless you specifically train a dog to do that, it seems like a horrible thing to do to your regular pet.

I am not surprised the dogs from OP get special treatment. They are trained to do one thing specifically, and anything that could mess them up psychologically (like being trapped in a box away from their handlers for hours in an airplane) has to be avoided, so they can do what they’ve been trained for.