This short video is making the rounds in social media of falcons boarding a flight. This is far more common than you might think. And no these do not appear to be emotional support falcons.
Folks two dudes just boarded my plane with emotional support falcons pic.twitter.com/lHABg8A7La
— The Tajikistahn Dahn (@DonnieDoesWorld) March 29, 2019
Apparently this caused quite the ruckus (though the falcons wound up quite well behaved).
People are changing seats to get away from them. I just volunteered to sit closer to them. They make me feel secure.
— The Tajikistahn Dahn (@DonnieDoesWorld) March 29, 2019
Two years ago a Saudi prince bought actual tickets for his falcons. In other words, each one had their own seat. These were not emotional support falcons hitching a ride for free. And there were 80 of them on the aircraft.
Falcons fly in the Mideast all the time. Each airline in the region has their own falcon policy. Here’s Qatar’s.
Occasionally – though not on Qatar, per policy – falcons they take up the whole cabin, such as this flight in 2014:
They’re certainly important animals in the culture, which I learned handling one in a falconry lesson at Al Maha Desert Resort.
If you buy a falcon a ticket then the airline allows them bring one dead animal on the plane because they’re permitted one carrion. When the whole plane is taken up by falcons, common practice is for the inflight movie to be Angry Birds.
My falcon prefers to check his dead animal rather than carrion — something about not liking to drag carrion through the airport. I think he had a bad experience at a Delta Skyclub.
There’s no falcon way I’d sit next to those birds.
how do birds get permission from the TSA to get on an airplane successfully?
Falcons and their owners going from the GCC to Afghanistan and Pakistan for hunting has a long history, some of which fostered the kinds of questionable ties that eventually led to 9/11 and all the questionable stuff that followed, including the creation of TSA and DHS.
Whoa that’s weird
If you want better behaved economy class passengers you just have to blindfold them.
OMG!!!!!! The Carrión joke is really really really funny and very very very clever. The entire article was fascinating but carrion was the cherry. Thanks!
The Atlanta Falcons prefer Delta.
What kind of cheap bastard prince only puts his falcons up in in economy class? That is cruelty to animals.
As a an emotional support Falcon owner & lover I resemble that remark
I’ve had a relationship with my loving Falcon for some years now
on economy, not even economy-plus? pheasants!!!!
Falcon awesome