Puerto Rico – A New York woman, trapped in Puerto Rico with her parrot, made it home after an airline agreed to fly her back to New York. Maria Fraterrigo, 76, found herself stranded in Puerto Rico for nearly a week when Frontier Airlines told her that she could not fly home with her emotional support parrot.
Fraterrigo had flown from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Puerto Rico with her bird, Plucky, but the airline said that it was a gate attendant “error” that allowed the pair to make their flight. Rather than allowing Fraterrigo and her parrot on their scheduled flight home, an airline employee told her to “get rid of the bird,” if she wanted to fly, reports KPTV News.
Fraterrigo had no intention of abandoning her companion, so she went public with her story, recounting the troubling situation with ABC 7 News. Not long after Frontier Airlines was bombarded with calls and emails from people angered by the situation, they reversed course and decided that Plucky could fly home with Fraterrigo.
The pair made it safely back to New York, but the ordeal was traumatizing enough that Fraterrigo has said she will never fly again, reports the New York Post.
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5 Comments
I won’t ever fly Frontier Airlines. Where is the humanity in our World 🌎 That a..hole who told her to get rid of the bird hopefully Frontier got rid of him or her.
What is the problem with flying with a relatively small pet that is in a safe container???? A LOT more pleasant than someone’s bratty kid kicking your seat! Good for that smart lady to go public with the story – and SHAME on Frontier Airlines for telling her to “get rid” of her pet – we have enough mental defectives drowing their dogs and hamsters in airport bathrooms after being told they can’t fly with them. Airlines need to rethink their bad policies and unhelpful staff.
I don’t blame this lady for not wanting to fly again. Frankly, at the rate planes are crashing, I wouldn’t fly myself anymore.
I hope they fired the airline attendant who had he audacity to tell this lady to get rid of her bird. Disgusting!
Some years ago, USDOT, after a public process, revised the emotional-support animal rule because of the “varied” species which passengers were claiming as such in order to bring them into the passenger cabin. However, the rule did not affect normal federal rules or airline rules and policies on bringing animals, as pets, on board. This sounds like a misunderstanding by the Frontier employee, who in any case should have checked with others at the airline to clarify the matter, and definitely not tell the woman to “get rid of the bird.” But, when making her flight arrangements, she should have advised of the parrot and asked about requirements for traveling with pets.
Agree with ABS314: most pets onboard act better than most kids – or their parents who let them kick your seat.
ABS314,
Couldn’t agree with you more. Airlines denying a parrot. Clearly someone allowed her to go there with it. Airlines have become bullies with their rules these days.