Woman claims Frontier Airlines let her pet bird on flight to Puerto Rico but won’t allow it on return trip
By John Dias
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BRONX, New York (WCBS) — A Bronx woman is stranded in Puerto Rico after Frontier Airlines made an error involving her pet bird, she says.
The airline allowed her to fly the island with her pet parrot Plucky out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, but she says she’s now being told she can’t return home with it.
Maria Fraterrigo, 76, was trying to return home to the Bronx Saturday from a trip in San Juan. She took her emotional support parrot with her, in an airline-approved bird cage. The only problem is the bird wasn’t allowed on her Frontier flight, although it was allowed on the Frontier flight out of JFK.
So what happened? She says the gate agents in Puerto Rico told her an error had been made at JFK by allowing her to fly with the bird.
“No, no, that was their mistake, not ours. If you want to get on the flight, get rid of the bird. Imagine that,” Fraterrigo said they told her. “I have been traumatized, I want to go home. That’s all I want. I want to go home.”
“All Frontier is saying is that she should have never been allowed to board the plane in the first place from JFK, it was their error. They are saying it is coming down to the type of bird she has,” her son Robert said.
According to Frontier’s website, only small household birds are allowed in the cabin. Large birds such as parrots are never accepted. But that’s not what Robert Fraterrigo says the airline told him when he booked their trip.
“She has a letter from the vet saying it’s an emotional support animal, what do we need to do, and she said that’s fine,” he said. “There was never a question as to what type of bird my mother was bringing.”
“It’s a nightmare. I am a wreck.”
Fraterrigo says she feels trapped.
“It’s like I’m abandoned,” Fraterrigo said. “My medicine is home. Doctor’s appointment. Everything is just a nightmare.”
Fraterrigo said it was her first time back in Puerto Rico since her husband died in 2019 of 9/11-related cancer.
“This is what happened. I can’t believe it. It’s a nightmare. I am a wreck, I am shaking all over,” Fraterrigo said.
Her son says he feels helpless.
“After my father died, this bird gave her so much comfort,” he said. “This is an island. This is not where my mom can jump in car, or I can jump in a car and go get her.”
After CBS News New York reached out to them, Frontier issued a statement Tuesday evening, saying they’re investigating the matter and looking into ways of fixing the problem.
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