A passenger on Frontier Airlines flight 1447 from Atlanta to San Francisco reportedly snuck two pets on board, was discovered, and got into a heated confrontation at the front of the aircraft – before being arrested and removed to the tarmac by airport police.
Video of the incident shows the woman arguing:
- “You can’t touch me”
- “You gotta wait for them”
- “Touch me mama” and threatening “I’ll beat you up” before escalating to assault and dropping a dog in a carrier.
Things got wild on a Frontier flight departing ATL for San Francisco around 5:20 PM today. Passengers claim the chaos started because a woman allegedly paid to travel with one dog, then tried to sneak a second dog onboard. After being confronted, she became disruptive, got into a verbal/physical altercation with a flight attendant, then was arrested by APD.
Language in the video is beeped out where it would be NSFW.
Pet in cabin travel requires dogs to remain in their carrier under the seat, only one carrier is going to fit and only one dog or cat is permitted per carrier. So two pets per passenger are not permitted. A second dog could be framed as a service animal, but that requires attestation paperwork which wasn’t done here.
Several years ago, Frontier kicked an emotional support squirrel off a flight. The owner threatened to sue. Frontier’s defunct soul cousin Spirit once forced a college student to flush her emotional support hamster down the toilet since they don’t allow hamsters.
I was on a Delta flight where a passenger snuck a pet onboard. We had pushed back at New York JFK when this was discovered. Delta turned the plane around and we went back to the gate.
The passenger hadn’t done the paperwork with the airline for a service animal or paid for a pet in cabin (and had the dog out on their lap which isn’t allowed with a pet in cabin). And this was very much not a service animal. We waited while they handled the paperwork, the woman reboarded with her dog, and then we took an even longer delay while we waited to refuel since we’d burned some with the taxi out and back (and the jet fuelers had a shift change).
Conflicts over fake emotional support animals was supposed to have ended before the pandemic, when the Department of Transportation revised rules to make it easier for airlines to deny them travel. Before that, airlines feared that the Air Carrier Access Act would expose them to liability for even questioning a support animal – whether a turkey or a pig, even – but that’s no longer the case. Passengers do still try to turn flights into a veritable Noah’s Ark, though. And sometimes that ends with law enforcement on the tarmac.
Dog Gone it.
I guess she “hounded” the flight crew, but they told her she was “barking” up the wrong tree.
Well said, @Alan. You could also say, she tried to “flea” the scene, but the flight crew had already “fetched” the police, so she “unleashed” her anger on them. Sounds like it got pretty “ruff”… I wonder was there a “tail” wind on that flight…
Dear Frontier CEO,
I know your airline is trying to get a better class of flyers so that you won’t go bankrupt like Spirit. May I please give you a word of advice? If you continue to offer Spirit like fares and customer service you will get only Spirit like customers and your airline too will see a similar fate.
This lady’s dog story sounded a little “far fetched” for the crew and they said, are you “fur” real? But she refused to “roll over” for them, and wanted to know why she couldn’t board. They said her dog couldn’t hold his “licker”, and her dog was over weight, but she said no, he’s a little “husky”. They told her to get off the plane and bring them a “Lab” report.
A civilized society would prohibit animals (“service” or otherwise) and children under 16 years of age from aircraft.
So many idiots. I remember a time when people either “did better” or stayed home. Now it seems that acting like an entitled asshole in public is considered “normal” and rather than a lifetime ban on travel on that airline, at least, they’ll get a slap on the wrist and a firm “now now!” because “profit”.
Airline travel is a crapshoot now where you can have a relatively “normal” (for 2026) experience or something more akin to the bus ride to Cartagena in “Romancing the Stone”.
Thank you for recognizing the late Mr. Pebbles, who met his untimely demise in a watery grave (blue water?). I maintain that a commemorative hamster paint job would have made a fine livery and tail flash had Spirit and Frontier merged.