Said Maria Fraterrigo, 81, quoted in "Grandmother Is Stranded When Her Parrot ‘Plucky’ Can’t Board Flight/Plucky, an African gray parrot, accompanied its owner on a Frontier Airlines flight to Puerto Rico in January. But a gate agent would not let it on board the return flight" (NYT).
Once they let her fly out with the animal, it was unfair not to allow her to return with it. It's one thing to say "Give it to somebody, get rid of it" about a newt or a gecko, but this was a parrot. Those things have some individuality and personality, especially from the viewpoint of the owner. They talk. And they live a long time. Plucky is 24.
And whether you support the "emotional support animal" loophole or not, the airline owed her consistency within a single round trip.
The woman's ordeal made the news and politicians, including Chuck Schumer, got into the game and pressured the airline. A Frontier spokesperson said "Parrots do not qualify as emotional support animals under our policies nor those of any other U.S. airline that we are aware of," but "We are pleased to have enabled Plucky’s return to New York," and "We apologize for any confusion that may have occurred with respect to our policies.”
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67 comments:
Lucky that Plucky wasn’t a quacker.
Two wrongs make a right? : 1) Wrong to let the parrot on the 1st flight, 2) Wrong to let it return. Consistent!
"We apologize for any confusion that may have occurred with respect to our policies.”
Classic non-apology. You didn't just confuse the lady. You stranded her and caused emotional distress, all because you failed to train your people to apply an apparently fuzzy policy consistently. The pat-themselves-on-the-back statement, "We are pleased to have enabled...," is just *chef's kiss* perfect.
Can one "damn with faint praise" when lavishing the lightweight compliment on oneself? If so, they be damned.
Papa don't preach
I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach
I've been losing sleep
But I made up my mind
I'm keeping my baby, hmm
I'm gonna keep my baby, hmm
…
But my friends keep telling me to give it up
Saying I'm too young, I oughta live it up
What I need right now
Is some good advice, please
…
(Papa don't preach)
Oh, I'm gonna keep my baby
(Papa don't preach) ooh
(Papa don't preach)
Don't stop loving me daddy
(Papa don't preach)
I know I'm keeping my baby
Customer Service is at a low point generally in our society at this time. Worse still, publicist-speak annoys the shit out of me when a little actual compassion would go a long way. How about, "We apologize for CAUSING THE MISUNDERSTANDING..." as an opening clause instead of the risible passive voice.
The passive voice is always a tell.
Dude wasn't using the weaselly passive voice when he yelled at her to get rid of the parrot, was he? Did the spokesdick apologize for the yelling?
Good thing the parrot wasn’t pining for the fjords.
" It's one thing to say "Give it to somebody, get rid of it" about a newt or a gecko, but this was a parrot. "
Anti-herp discrimination? Sad. I thought we as a culture had progressed beyond that. Do better, people :P
The old "emotional support animal" con game is getting very irritating. And it's not just 81-year-old grannies (sorry, Inga) doing it. It's a selfish and discourteous act that imposes on others, and worse, now it's become a legally protected practice. And the practitioners know it, making them even more irritating.
It would be interesting to know how Mrs. Fraterrigo's "Adventures in Travel" story made it to ABC News in NYC, and then to the NYT. She must have some connections.
Glad to see Chuck is doing the business of the people when we are $36 trillion in debt. What a loser.
“Once they let her fly out with the animal, it was unfair not to allow her to return with it.”
Spoken like a lawyer! The problem is that an airline isn’t a judicial system, with rules of precedent and rights of appeal. It is, in many instances, a company of individuals reacting idiosyncratically to novel challenges such as whether to allow a passenger to travel with a parrot. Given that, there will be inconsistencies, and sometimes the overall corporation will have to rally to help out someone in a predicament as happened here. But please describe the alternative. Does anyone want their airline run by a detailed code of inflexible rules with every agent prohibited from exercising discretion to adapt to unique circumstances?
File this under rules that don’t matter but are stilll sometimes enforced.
I have a neighbor who once bought a Macaw in Italy where he was living at the time. He ended up moving back home to New York with his Macaw, went through his life, got a second Macaw, got married, raised a family, built a business, then one day retired and ended up in Florida across the street from me. The original Macaw died a couple of months ago. It lived through most of my neighbor's entire life. It had been his companion for over 50 years and...he wasn't sure just how old it was because it was an adult when he got it. (I say 'it' because I don't remember if he was a he or she was a she.)
They do become family members. They are smart. They are their own creatures.
Chucky scrambling for some positive PR. Not sure this will move the needle.
Chucky scrambling for some positive PR. Not sure this will move the needle.
[Parrots] have some individuality and personality, especially from the viewpoint of the owner.
And that’s doubly or triply true for African Greys, who are amazingly intelligent.
Frontier is rather a garbage airline in the first place,, and I never voluntarily fly with them. Ditto Spirit.
Plucky?? As in “Plucky, gentille Plucky
Plucky, je te plumerai…”
Companies embrace the public interface 'passive speak' because they're afraid of getting sued, and all of the bad press that goes with it. What's worse, companies will often throw employees under the bus when they do the right thing and put policy to the side to avert toxic customer experiences like this one - show initiative, in other words, to save a brand they don't own.
HR departments, which we used to call 'Human Remains', have been the death of customer satisfaction, but it's in a derivative way that cannot be traced to it. Thus we're stuck, until executives start to find their integrity again, and the testosterone required to defend it. That whole 'leadership' thingie.
I’d only let her bring it on if she wears an eye patch and the parrot sits on her shoulder
"We are pleased to have enabled Plucky’s return to New York..."
Plucky was served as the in-flight meal on the return flight.
I'm trying to figure out what judicial system New Yorker is thinking of because it sure isn't the one I've been observing.
This seems to me to be a classic case of kicking the can down the road. The staff at the originating airport apparently chose the easy way out by not enforcing company policy (assuming they checked for the bird) and it wasn't going to be their problem when she headed back home.
While I agree with Althouse that once Frontier allowed the bird on one leg of the flight it should have been obligated to transport it for the remainder of the round trip, I think that everyone has gone way too far with this “emotional support animal” stuff. It’s one thing for the rest of us to accommodate a highly trained dog used by a blind person, but damned few people with their “emotional support” animals have their animals all that well trained. And parrots can produce a lot of hard-to-clean-up birdshit .
Of course the whole 'support animal' thing became an absurdity as soon as somebody started printing official-looking certificates and selling them on the internet. I thought by now that the airlines and other transporters were demanding more official, accredited forms of certification before allowing any critter or varmint to be claimed as 'indispensable for travel', all taken care of up-front, and well away from the check-in counter, so there's no misunderstanding - or gaming.
mccullough said...
“I’d only let her bring it on if she wears an eye patch and the parrot sits on her shoulder.
And she(*) speaks in a West Country pirate accent.
She being Senora Fraterrigo. Although a bonus if the parrot can speak that way, too.
She flew out on Frontier in January, returned a couple of days ago - it is possible she did not book a round trip, but instead booked the return after staying the winter in PR (many snowbirds do just this), which would lessen the charge of allowing the parrot on only one way of a round trip. Plus, having a large bird inside an airplane cabin would seem to pose a safety threat to the other passengers.
People and their fucking pets. Has everyone lost their mind?
There is no certification authority for so-called support animals. If you say it's a support animal, then that's that. It's a racket and these people parading their "support animals" are simply lying to your face and abusing what should be a reasonable accommodation made for a few genuine animals.
@Old and slow, well almost. Emotional support animals (ESA), but not service animals.
"The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) used to prohibit airlines from turning away individuals with ESAs. Airlines had to allow ESAs to fly with their handlers. As of January 11, 2021, this is no longer the case. The ACAA has since been modified so that only service dogs are protected from being denied entry to a flight. Now, airlines can treat ESAs the same as any other pet...." - https://usserviceanimals.org/blog/emotional-support-animal-laws/
And if you Google it, there's a bunch of official-looking websites online that'll print you up a special-looking certificate, and maybe even send a hat & badge if you're a big enough sucker.
Is it a baby or a fetus? Prosecutorial discretion lends itself to establishment of a Pro-Choice religion (i.e. behavioral protocol or model) and its ethical offshoots.
Concistency need not apply on both legs of a round trip. In one direction, she went to Puerto Rico. In the other direction, she was going to New York. Different animal entry rules could apply in each. I'd just bet that NY is stricter on animal entry than PR. I'm also certain there are ways to transport an animal, support status certified or not, on an airline that would result in arrival at the destination if she'd planned ahead. She did not determine how to do that in advance, because entitlement.
Good thing she wasn't using a pony as a support animal, the seating is way too tight on Frontier for a pony's comfort even on short flights. It is too tight for human comfort too, but we aren't supposed to complain about that.
Unless you're blind or otherwise seriously disabled, leave your damn animal at home. That's as charitably as I can put it.
You try to sit next to me with that bird, we're throwing down.
Parrots are much happier free, why anybody would want a pet that will have to be left to another to care for, probably twice at least, so that they can sit on a perch with about as much freedom as a laying hen, is beyond me.
There is a little coffee shop I frequent in Florida where a small flock of parrots flies by in the morning and screeches for breakfast, and the owner comes out and puts a few nuts on a little platform nailed to the trunk of the tree while they watch from the canopy, and they bring color and noise for a little while, then fly off. That seems a lot more civilized.
Yep you have to be consistent, what was the parrot supposed to do, fly back himself? Fly or No fly. Ok or not OK. Choose one.
mikee said…
“Good thing she wasn't using a pony as a support animal, the seating is way too tight on Frontier for a pony's comfort even on short flights.”
You’ll be hearing from my lawyer if you don’t accommodate my emotional support hippo.
Frontier sucks. Don't fly it.
I hate the idea of birds in cages. Always have.
Once they let her fly out with the animal, it was unfair not to allow her to return with it.
If the origin and destination are in different vaccination "zones," you can get different inbound and outbound quarantine and documentation requirements, which might prevent a pet from returning. I think Puerto Rico and the continental US are in the same zone, but Hawaii, for example, has more stringent rabies vaccination requirements as a matter of state law.
I tried to bring my emotional support goldfish on the plane once.
They told me the fish was OK but I could not bring the water.
John Henry
First problem is Frontier Airlines. Nobody should ever fly them.
Second issue is Puerto Rico. There seem to be some different rules for what you can bring when flying to Puerto Rico and flying from PR. Especially with regards to fruits and foods.
We have a nearly extinct "Puerto Rican Parrot" and there are some pretty stringent state laws that apply to them. I don't think they can be removed from PR without a lot of official paperwork and a good reason. I wonder if this had anything to do with the incident?
I got this from Brave's AI:
Due to these protections, it is illegal to own, trade, or keep a Puerto Rican parrot as a pet without the proper permits from both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. These permits are typically only granted to authorized conservation programs and research institutions.
I wonder if the Frontier agent had been trained to distinguish a PR parrot needing papers from a run of the mill parrot?
I fly a lot and generally don't have problems. (I don't fly Frontier or Spirit, though) The one serious problem I have with flying is emotional support animals. A small dog or cat in a carrier under the seat is OK. A 40 pound dog that the owner carries on their lap, that's a hard no. Not just no, but HELL NO!!!
John Henry
And lady, a parrot is NOT your "baby". Unless you are extremely weird biologically.
John Henry
Amen, Wilbur, Amen.
And that goes double for your horse, talking or not.
John Henry
I flew with a small parrot in an animal carrier that fit under the seat. I've seen people do that with dogs and cats. Maybe this bird was too big for that kind of carrier.
Many years ago, when my family moved cross-country, our cats traveled with us via the luggage hold, and they did fine. Shortly after, Mom and I were chatting with a grocery cashier about this, and he told us that when he had to do the same thing, "my cats were so nervous I had to seduce 'em!" We knew what he meant, but it was all we could do not to bust out laughing before we left the store.
“First problem is Frontier Airlines. Nobody should ever fly them.”
That’s the Spirit!
Peachy said...
“I hate the idea of birds in cages. Always have.”
But do you know why the caged bird sings?
My emotional support python.... my "baby"....
Now tell me where to draw the line, have every freakin' gate agent fully aware of the bright line and uniformly enforce that line.
Sorry, lady I don't want your large bird on the flight.
I was once one of the last onto an airplane, I was on the aisle, and I didn't realize until the end of the flight that the lady in the window seat had a little dog in a carrier under the seat. I was startled when she took out the dog, so I confessed to her with great embarrassment that I thought she'd just been talking to herself. She chuckled.
I saw her again at the luggage carousel, and she'd obviously told my story to the granddaughter who was meeting her. The granddaughter was having a lot of fun with it, waving to me, pointing to her grandmother, and twirling her finger next to her head. I had to go over and apologize again, but the whole thing made their day.
"Once they let her fly out with the animal, it was unfair not to allow her to return with it."
Depends. For example, as others have noted, are rules the same flying into PR and NY? If NY agent broke rule or failed to notice, how does that bind a more observant rule-abiding agent?
"this was a parrot. Those things have some individuality and personality, especially from the viewpoint of the owner." So what?
"And whether you support the "emotional support animal" loophole or not" Considering that many people abuse the "loophole," I do not support the loophole. Nor do I think a parrot is or ought to be an "emotional support animal." Nor do I think an airline should give any credence to such folly.
"the airline owed her consistency within a single round trip" Was she on a "single round trip"?
One reason I don't get a dog is that it would change me into the kind of person who would call a dog "my baby." Why have a dog? Just to make a bunch of chores for yourself and keep you from being able to get away from home? If the dog is not going to be your baby, don't get a dog (unless you need one for hunting or herding sheep or something).
"Why have a dog?"
The bond. The love given and taken.
Animals do not belong in the passenger cabin- full fucking stop. I don't give a shit if you are blind- the dog goes in a carrier in the proper cargo hold.
Maybe SCOTUS can order Frontier to facilitate the bird's return.
I worked at a Commonwealth of PA historical site, we were instructed to accept as valid, anyone claiming a pet was a 'support animal'. In my 12 years there, I believe there were less than a dozen such requests, and none soiled the buildings. Yes, it's BS, and they are taking advantage of the system. The other passengers have a right to 'bird free' flights too.
"Once they let her fly out with the animal, it was unfair not to allow her to return with it. "
Because it's against the airline's policy, they don't have to allow the parrot on the return flight; but because it's their mistake, they do have to facillitate and effectuate the bird's return to the United States.
This "emotional support" animal thing has been out of hand for quite some time. I recall that in 2018 United Airlines barred a huge "emotional support peacock" from a flight. Here's the link to the news story, complete with a picture of the peacock: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42880690
Poppa don't preach. I'm keeping my baby.
I rely on my emotional support parrot because I'm not always as quick insulting people as I should be.
But I'd be surprised if New York politicians would be sympathetic. Remember P-nut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon?
1. As of 2021 airlines are not required to allow emotional support animals to travel in the cabin.
2. Emotional support animals can travel as pets under an airline's pet policy.
3. Frontier allows small birds to travel in the cabin as pets in a carrier that fits under the seat.
4. Frontier considers a parrot specifically to be a large bird which is not allowed in the cabin.
5. Frontier does not allow animals to be transported as cargo.
6. Certified service dogs are allowed.
--- Once they let her fly out with the animal, it was unfair not to allow her to return with it.
Pish tosh. Life is unfair. It's about time Maria F learned that lesson.
--- It's one thing to say "Give it to somebody, get rid of it" about a newt or a gecko, but this was a parrot.
What unbridled antinewtomianism!
Sauce for the gecko and all that.
SCOTUS may order it, but who will effectuate it? There's the rub.
“Why have a dog? Just to make a bunch of chores for yourself and keep you from being able to get away from home? If the dog is not going to be your baby, don't get a dog (unless you need one for hunting or herding sheep or something).”
Seems like the same reasoning applies a fortiori to having a baby, which can’t even herd sheep, and is a lot less pleasant to share an aircraft with. As for support animals, I’d much rather fly next to a well behaved dog than 300 pounds of sweaty lard.
Back when there was a spate of emotional support fauna of all types infesting the skies, one of our commenters said he had an Emotional Support Chimp. When other passengers made the commenter feel anxious, the chimp would fling poop at them until he felt less anxious.
That was one of the top 10 best comments on this blog.
JSM
I was seated next to a person accompanied by an emotional support dog once and the dog spent the flight leaning on me, licking me, and standing on my feet, to which the dog's owner was apparently oblivious. Fortunately I like dogs. I wish someone had tracked down the passengers who were seated next to the parrot to obtain their perspectives.
I was there. I heard it. Plucky said to the Frontier agent, "fuck this civility bullshit! You'll be having sex with a corpse on the R Train for your next comfort animal job!"
I've seen this story before. The parrot is going to fly back to PR on his own to be with the true love he met on the vacation.
Hallmark Channel, I think.
"Parrots are much happier free..."
Some are born and raised in captivity (I'm not taking a position on this, just stating the fact) and have never been free. I don't know the success rate of freeing such birds but I would guess it might be spotty.
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