A passenger in the gate area of a Delta flight snapped a photo of a woman preparing to board for Detroit – bringing with her a large dog and four carry-on items.
The dog wasn’t in a bag that fits underneath the seat, which is required for a pet in cabin. She had registered it with the airline as a service animal – but it clearly wasn’t. A pet in cabin is treated as a carry-on which means she should only have had a single personal item with her – not four.
Once on board the Bombardier CR-9 regional jet, the woman found she didn’t fit in first class seat 2A. She didn’t quite have room for herself along with her dog. So the flight attendant on this Delta Connection trip allowed her to move across the aisle to sit in 2C, and for her dog to take 2D. They did this even though both of those seats were assigned to other passengers.
The passenger who was in 2C boarded and was told she had to take 2A. But then the passenger who had 2D boarded. He was given 1C. Then the passenger who had 1C boarded and was told there was no first-class seat for him.
The first class passenger in 1C was “involuntarily downgraded to a comfort-plus seat” which is extra-legroom coach.
Naturally, the passenger who bought only one seat should only have been afforded one seat. Other passengers shouldn’t have been moved – let alone downgraded – to accommodate them. Need more than one seat? You can buy more than one. Although even an extra seat doesn’t increase your carry-on bag allowance.
Despite the shenanigans, Delta Air Lines flight 4331 pushed back 10 minutes early this morning and arrived into Detroit 20 minutes early.
Passengers can bring service animals on a plane, and don’t have to pay extra to do so. They just have to fill out paperwork, which largely amounts to attesting that it’s a service animal.
Emotional support animals aren’t supposed to be a thing on planes anymore, but it’s really an ‘honor system’ sort of thing.
That means that there are still plenty of animals on planes, even if it’s not the Noah’s Ark two of each animal situation that it used to be. The average passenger wanting to bring an emotional support animal also happens not to be very good at handling the paperwork in advance.
@ Kuck Famala— your name says it all. Obvious troll is obvious.
@Michael- yes, yes you do want to get political. You probably couldn’t wait to do so.
@DLF- the regular readers of this blog are trolls, elitist, and/or just little snowflakes. I have yet to read of of Gary’s posts that wasn’t toxic- both in his whiny and entitled anecdotes and in the comments.
Omg so someone put the seat back? Who cares? Oh your poor allergies? Again, who cares? How dare someone get something you don’t and it’s just not fair. Life isn’t fair. Again, who cares?
For one of a pax has a DOT paperwork signed saying an animal is there service animal we can not argue with that . Or we will get a DOT fine . Also a service animal is allowed to have a carry on as to why she had multiple bags
A few years ago shortly before Christmas, I was flying home from DEN to BOS on UA.
Plane was actually only about 50% full.
A young college age woman started having an apoplectic meltdown at the gate because she was going to have to check her “Emotional Support Hula Hoop”
The Gate Team and Flight Crew accommodated her by sticking her in an unoccupied row.
Everybody is overlooking that the passenger could fit in 1A but there was not room for the large dog. Perhaps a small person plus dog could have fit, but really it is up to the passenger with an animal to buy what they need. FAs should never boot a paying lst class passenger to coach, but maybe it wasn’t a paying passenger. Since that passenger and large dog needed two seats, they are the ones who should have been given the choice to move to two seats in economy if available, or wait for a flight that could accomodate.
Doodle make great Service Dogs. They are hypoallergenic for those with allergies. I agree that Emotional Support animals are not medically necessary. Service Dogs are medically necessary. How about Service Members with PTSD, the blind, those with severe diabetes that they can sniff and save their life? I have friends with those problems. ONLY DOGS CAN BE SERVICE ANIMALS! Gone are the days of the Support peacock. And airlines (apparently not Delta) have a rigorous process in place for Service Dogs to fly. This lady obviously did not follow it.
Many of you don’t understand ADA laws on legitimate service animals, unfortunately for YOU your “dander allergies” and discomfort do NOT trump federal laws. And no, there is NO legitimate registration for service animals (that can be owner/handler trained), and we’re under NO obligation to prove anything to you. I do sympathize with others regarding the abuse of ADA laws/accessibility when the fakes are passing their pets off as service animals. ESA may not be regarded the same, but suffer no illusion that they’re not just as beneficial and necessary for those genuinely needing their companionship and comfort. It never ceases to amaze me the lack of tolerance and compassion afforded to those with disabilities, including mental health disorders. Like we have any control over things of that nature, and not all disabilities are visible. Lighten up and educate yourselves.
Don’t know what’s more pathetic, people defending her despicable actions or delta for being so pathetic to accommodate her. America needs to grow up and stop accommodating people to lazy to check ahead of time about rules. 4 carry ons aren’t allowed anywhere. Service animals should be verified and if someone can’t fit in a seat then they can buy a second seat or take the bus. This clown knew she and her dog couldn’t fit in one seat. Why suck up to her?
I will give her this – she reserved a first class seat with no one adjacent. Better than the selfish folks who book a coach seat and expect the people adjacent to give up space they paid for.
But what service dog is a groomed show dog breed like that. Give me a break. And she should book two seats to handle an animal of that size.
A any time a customer is downgraded it’s a fail. No further background to establish that failure on the part of the airline, in this case DELTA.
Bad form to publish the picture of the woman in a case of hearsay.
Delta didn’t do the right thing. But there is no evidence that this is not a service animal.
Also in my understanding service animals fall under ADA rules in the US. They do NOT count as a carry-on bag.
I am no fan of people gaming the system, still you can’t just randomly point at someone and pass judgement. If you have more information then share, otherwise clarify that you simply assume, but don’t know,
I looked up Delta flight 4306. It’s ONLY a 4 hour drive to Detroit. If this passenger drives, she could have driven round trip from Pellston to Detroit with her dog and extra luggage instead of flying. I’ve been a dog mom for years and ALWAYS drive 4-12 hours, so I can take my dog with me. (My dog is not a service dog.) When I fly, I leave my dog at home with a pet sitter.
I’m curious how much extra aileron control had to be exerted to control roll
@Ken, you need to get a refund on your med school tuition. Oh, wait a minute … you were too stupid to even get admitted. Diabetes does not cause someone to be overweight. Being overweight is a condition which contributes to getting diabetes. Stick to changing bedpans.
Anyone who thinks those is normal is part of the problem.
Regardless if it is a registered service dog or not. If you can’t be without you animal for a few hours or a few days you have issues and shouldn’t be traveling.
Please don’t be dumb enough to say she might be traveling to get help.
Sure she was on Social Media the entire time because she needs to be in everyone’s business or their support of her pathetic situation.
The world is so soft and everyone wants to jump in online.
Anyone who thinks I am wrong, go 3 days without checking Social Media or tell how you would get food outside of a restaurant or your local store every 3 days.
We have become so pathetic. We are more worried about this versus actual things going on that will affect generations behind us.
Over privileged person couldn’t whine, get her way and take a mutt on a flight?!
Hope we get to a point we are so well off as a country thar this should matter.
Emotional support animals are not service animals under ADA. Airlines shouldn’t act they’re the same thing.
It is disingenuous to vilify the disabled pax , f/a and gate agent. This was a no win scenario for the f/a , pax and the gate agent. Deny the disabled pax there is consequences with the feds-d.o.t. and fines to the airline. There is 14 cfr 382 to consider that protect disabled pax and rightfully so. Involving a 1st class pax was probably the lesser of evils in the situation at hand. Also the 1st pax may have been a upgraded and not paying for the 1st class seat anyways and compensation should have been appropriate and CHEAPER than a dot fine. It is a no win situation for sure so a bit of compassion for the crew involved. As to the # of bags it is hard to say what was medically necessary, there may have been batteries for a mobility aid that are removed from the device and would need to be in the cabin and travel with the disabled pax. Lithium batteries anyone. Also since this was a crj9 those bags would have gone in the front cargo bin as a valet bag anyways and wouldn’t matter in the long run. There is closets onboard but there is limited capacity in those closets. As to the animal it was a service animal and go with the pax like it or not. Don’t get me started on the emotional support animals, a whole different subject than the service animals that fulfill a specific function. Sight , blood sugar , seizures awareness and so forth. It is just the emotional support animals we’re abused by the masses in the past that has brought about the current regulations on them. I haven’t worked the job in a few years but I believe emotional support and pet in cabin animals now have to be declared in the passengers reservation due to past abuses from pax claiming a family pet is a trained service and emotional support animal when it is not
DS is an idiot.
The woman isn’t even that large- compared to the average American. We don’t know anything about the back story here.
My daughter has CF and her respiratory equipment actually came with a bag that looks like a typical rolling suitcase. I cannot have this checked – she needs it and it is extremely expensive. To avoid checking at the gate I typically ask to board in an earlier group. A lot of the time they let me board *waaaaay* early- they hear cystic fibrosis and think handicap. So I wind up boarding early with actual handicapped people – all the while feeling like a fake and a liar. I want to scream “no I’m not pretending to be debilitated to board early-literally all I want is to not wind up checking at the gate…” (my daughter has typically been zooming all over- clearly not debilitated)
My experiences have taught me that sometimes there’s a back story- not obvious to those judging
You all need to learn about things before you comment. Any dog can be a service animal if it’s trained properly. To say “it’s a doodle so it can’t be a service dog” is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. It needs to be trained to do a specific activity for the person with a medical issue. To say “obviously it’s not a service animal” without any supporting information is just stupid. Also, there is no national registration for service dogs. In addition, medical equipment is not counted in the bag count. CPAP, TENS unit, a bag specifically for medical equipment doesn’t count. If she has a CPAP and a bag with say her blood testing supplies, those don’t count to the bag limit.
I have never seen so many people jump to conclusions based on nothing before. Now granted, could the airlines have done something different say, give the front row with more space at the feet for the dog, probably and that’s on them, but to attack the passenger who most likely is disabled or at the minimum suffers a medical issue is just not right. Do better people.
To ken, when you are born, your not born fat. You get that way because you had bad parents. Never said no to you and let you eat all you want , medical condition my ass.Read the Bible,it talks about obesity and how God does not like that,it’s a Sin and I don’t about you but,most of America believes in him,we even have on our currency in God we Trust, remember that.people that are heavy just don’t care,they given up on themselves,low self assteam.Read your Bible if you have one.
People here don’t even know the difference between service animals and ESAs are.
Look it up. ESAs are actually probably a good idea for perhaps a person who has PTSD from being a soldier in war or similar, but none of these things are highly regulated.
I work with therapy animals which are not ESAs or service animals. Service animals are really the only one that can go in stores, etc.
This exact situation is exactly why if I were in congress, I would put forth legislation to officially certify Service animals and ESAs through the ADA. There would be Behavior standards, ALL SAs, ESAs, and their handlers would be required to attend and pass a government approved training program, and a doctor would need to put in a letter the exact reason for the need of an SA/ESA. This document is required to put the animal/handler through training. The training would also emphasize behavior training as well. After training, the training organization would submit the appropriate documentation to the ADA who would be in charge of specifically approving these animals/people to receive a certificate and ID card (an OD for the animal, and an ID for the handler). If the animal/handler fails training, they’re not issued a certification and they’re not eligible for training again. If they need an animal, then they would be required to seek one from an approved organization that specifically trains and provides animals for their conditions. In terms of transportation, I would mandate that no paying passenger or paying passenger who was upgraded, would be booted from their seat to make way for people with these SAs and ESAs. If they ARE booted, the airline would be required to pay said passenger(s) and those on their itinerary, quintuple the original cost of the fare, PLUS accommodations, PLUS meal vouchers, PLUS rebook them on a comparable flight with the exact same seats as the original flight(s). If a booting causes a pax(s) to miss a connecting flight, the airlines would eb required to pay decuple (whatever ten times is lol) the original cost of the fare with the same other benefits as previously mentioned. Oh, and this wouls apply if they got booted in favor of a fat person too…
Personally, I am tired of the people don’t abide by the rules and how everyone has to walk on eggshells when these people need to be challenged. ESPECIALLY when the animals can’t behave. I’m tired of REAL SAs and ESAs getting the shaft in public image because people like THIS woman can’t do things correctly.
This why I do not fly Delta they don’t even follow their own rules..
@J.C. I’m not supporting all that Ken said but as a retired RN there’s LOADS and LOADS of clinical information about Insulin Resistance that starts before the diagnosis of Diabetes! When blood levels of both insulin and blood sugar climb and while muscle tissue and other vital cells go without, FAT cells use the insulin to grow fat stores! So, there is clearly a very serious link between the development of Diabetes and weight gain! Even when a pre-diabetic starves themselves they can NOT lose weight. That’s Real! This process can start 10-15 years before they even meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis of Diabetes.
Larry, hate to tell you, but you’re wrong. There is no paperwork, and no required training. They’re *supposed* to have SOME kinds of training, but the owner can do whatever training they think is enough. There is no evidence needed, and airlines are too afraid of being sued for being anti-disabled people if they start enforcing rules. I personally think there needs to be a certification system.
Larry R said: Passengers are required to show ID to get on a flight; why shouldn’t a service animal also have to sho ID identifyng the animal as a trained service animal? I’m assuming that when someone obtains a service animal that there are papers or cerificates of some kind showing that the animal has received the approprie training.
To Ken
It doesn’t matter if you have diabetes,thyroid or anything else your fat because your feeding your body with crap, of the millions in Hitlers concentration camps there were no fat people because they didn’t eat and there had to be some with those diseases you mention but they weren’t fat
To Ken
Diabetes does not lead to being overweight being overweight leads to diabetes you didn’t see any fat people in the concentration camps because they didn’t eat and I’m sure there had to thousands in the camps with diabetes
To Anonymous
Theres’ nothing normal about her size she’s a fat horse by any measurement
Delta airlines new motto “we reward bad behavior & have untrained passenger facing gate staff”
The personal comments posted about this story are disgusting. And the story itself is almost as bad. Think about it.
How about animal free flights?Or a section at the back of the plane reserved for the people with ‘emotional support’ animals? I guarantee when they can only sit at the back of the plane, they will stop traveling with their pets.
Unless it’s a true service animal – for a blind person or specifically trained for detection of a medical condition – a separate full fare should be required if the animal does not fit under the seat. If an adjacent passenger is allergic, the pet owner should be moved, not the paying passenger who does not require support to leave his/her house.
Road trips will make a come back!
Can we stop coddling these land manatees already, I don’t wanna hear about thyroid or diabetes, stop stuffing your fat face that would help and these grown people that need support animals should be forced to walk to places, if you’re over 3 yrs old and need a support animal there is only one option…
I 100 pct agree that there should be pet sections on planes. Lots of people are seriously allergic to pets( I am not one personally) Why should they be miserable so you can feel better? If someone lets the airline know in advance they need to fly with a service animal they should accommodate. Also… those of you Fat shaming .. Don’t be stupid! People have been fat for much longer then junk food has existed. You don’t know what their situation is.
That’s a pet, fatty needs to get over herself and airlines need to stop with the BS!
I tried to read the article, but then got interrupted by flashing ads and then some broken glitchy audio track that I could not easily figure out jow to stop. So, I turned on ad blocking and ended up here. I was referred here by a service that I will now use to block all news articles from this site and will hopefully never be back again.
The only reason this person was allowed all these privileges & to violate the airline’s rules is because Delta was afraid of being called out (or sued) for racial prejudice. Had it been a white person, this would never have happened.
You weren’t coddled and they accommodated someone with a disability so you snap a pic and fat shame and humiliate her online. You sound like a hell of a person.
I’m not understanding why they didn’t move her to a row 1 seat. I have flown 1st class many times and there’s more room in row 1 than 2. I’m glad to hear that she actually purchased a 1st class ticket, but I’d be hella pissed if I got moved because of a dog. I fly 1st so I can deplane quickly. If I had to wait for a dog and 4 carry-ons to get off first I’d be rather pissed. No I’m not entitled, I only have 20 minutes to connect in ATL. I also don’t like sitting next to dogs on a flight because I don’t know how they’re going to react to the flight. ( I’m talking about “emotional support” dogs, not legit K9’s with a job to perform, as they probably have more flight time than I do.) I need emotional support when I leave my 80lb Bully with the babysitter so I don’t traumatize him by taking him on a plane.
Personally I think airlines need to offer a pet option like seating in the back of the plane for all the pet people, and charge for the privilege of bringing your animals aboard and inconveniencing other people just so you don’t have to leave them at home.
Why do you call them “Plus-Sized” passengers? They are FAT.
I quit flying years ago when it stopped being fun and turned into a sardine packed flying city bus, complete with sidewalk circus-show people. It’s really gross now. Just a bunch of slobs thinking they are entitled to something extra because they breathe air.
Typical fat entitled person. Sorry but if your overweight self can’t fit in the seat you don’t fly. It’s not other passengers problem you are obese.
Society is hilarious these days in the cater to me attitude. It’s also why ADA is the biggest entitlement joke. Once again anything to force others to cater to you
Even without the dog, she looks too fat to fit in a seat.
Poodles actually make great service animals. As for carry-ons, the green case looks to be medical, most likely oxygen supplies. All passengers are given a free medical bag allowance if needed and they attest it is such. Then the roller bag as her regular carry on and the bag on top of it must have been the service animal supplies. Then she had a purse as her personal item. After reading the article headline, I was expecting the last to be like 400 pounds, not more like 200 pounds. She is fairly in the average category especially since she has a medical illness. The only issue is moving other passengers and downgrading. I really hope Delta asked for a volunteer at the gate to downgrade and offered it as a free flight for them or such. Obviously the writer was privileged to know all the details of this case.
Yes before everyone comes for me, I am 200 pounds, I have 1 leg and a prosthetic leg, I take over 70 meds a day to live, I recently had 4 flights on Delta, I paid for comfort plus and sat in the 1st row of it. 1 of the planes had the 1st row with about 4 feet of leg room, like a missing row of seats, the rest were a little tight trying to get the prosthetic to fit. I am over 6 foot tall.
The Delta flight attendants were amazing to try and help anyway they could. I was boarded 1st and yes had a wheeled ride around each airport, that I tipped generously as they were awesome. My only complaint was exiting the plane, everyone jumps up at same time. Several of us medically needed and had wheelchairs waiting with attendants just off the plane, they were blocking the ramp basically but all the regular passengers were blocking asle in plane so we couldn’t get out. I almost missed a connection but the attendant pushing my chair ran so fast and getting me from gate to gate. What I am saying is, Delta did great, passengers sucked!
In the good ol’ days, the fat c**t and her dog would have been escorted off the plane for disruption of a flight. Begging the question as to why Delta didn’t do that. There was every reason to do so. The very fact that fat people have “extra” rights for their extra weight is an affront to common sense. We should be PENALIZING them and forcing them to buy a row of seats if they plan to fly. As for the “emotional support animal”, this c**t would have been needing some emotional support by the time I finished berating her.
Im larger than that lady and I travel all the time. In a regular coach seat. I don’t ‘spill over” or touch the other people next to me. I agree that she should have checked some of her bags and that other people shouldn’t have been moved. Body shaming isn’t helpful. Grow up
Let’s call fat people what they are: LARD A–ES.
I agree about the 4 carryons – BUT if you have a sleep apnea device – you can take it as an additional bag as it is exempt of the 2 piece carryon rule. As a plus sized person she probably has a sleep apnea machine. so that would be three not four.
These comments always depress me. I was diagnosed with PTSD and, after trying all sorts of medication, therapy, and more for over a decade, I was advised to get a service dog. I recently got a mini doodle (as someone mentioned, they make great service animals) and I’m currently working with a team of professionals to get him trained and certified — spending close to $10k, which I’m only mentioning so you can see that I am going the legitimate route, and not the “just pay money to self-certify him as a service dog online” route.
That said, I look like a fit, healthy person. I’m lucky that I have the means that if I fly with my dog, I can (and will) buy the seat next to me, but reading these comments makes me realize how people will view me when I’m just trying to travel with my service animal. It also makes me wonder if I’ll end up on one of Gary’s posts for simply traveling legally with my service log.
I am with everyone who is annoyed at people who abuse the system. But you cannot assume that someone is abusing the system just because they “look like they don’t need a service dog” or because the service animal doesn’t look like what you think a service dog should look like.
This whole service dog issue has gotten out of control. Prohibit any animals in the cabin who cannot fit in a carrier under your seat! The exception would be seeing eye dogs and law enforcement dogs.
Thanks the ADA disability always comes first. Boot 10 to accommodate 1 if needed
Issue is some of the regulations surrounding the ADA act. It isn’t always clear if a business or other entity, even on private property, is allowed to require proof that a service dog is a service dog. It’s paramount to asking someone what condition they have or what prescriptions they take. I work at a college and it is a nightmare. We have 10 times as many animals on campus as before, and not all roommates are ok with that, so we have to move people around constantly. We are only allowed to ask if the animal is a service or emotional support animal (unless it obvious that it is), and what service does it perform. We can only ask someone to leave an area or ban the animal from campus if it is aggressive or is otherwise a threat to others’ safety. I don’t know how airlines work – they may have different rules. But federal law is federal law. We need to push for changes to these laws for the sake of safety and fairness. Personally I believe that there should be a federal registry for service animals, just like there is controlled substances, but only for use by airlines, public transit, or other public facing entities – NOT FOR HOUSING. Denying someone housing because they have a pet, or because their pet is a certain breed, should be mostly illegal. But NO – YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE YOUR GOLDENDOODLE ON A DELTA FLIGHT AND EXPECT TO BE GIVEN AN EXTRA SEAT BECAUSE YOU ARE OBESE. Anyone can get paperwork for an emotional support animal. I know because I’ve done it for housing reasons. But flying is an entirely different…. animal.