I would love to take her with me in the cabin, but I'm pretty sure ten of her twelve pounds is in her long legs. She looks like a baby deer sometimes, after a close grooming.

AC had told me a few years ago that she not only has to be able to stand in her kennel, but also have a half foot clearance above her head. Oddly, the weight cutoff is 22 lbs. There must be a lot of flat, fat dogs out there !
I would also be concerned about her barking etc during the flight. She's not the most settled in her kennel, and worse when she knows I'm close by. On our trip back, I had to get a fairly long taxi ride to my car, and the driver refused to let me take her out of her kennel

She whined and yelped the whole ride.