According to a report, an airline prevented an 81-year-old Bronx lady from bringing her emotional support parrot on her flight home, leaving her stranded in Puerto Rico.
Due to Frontier Airlines’ refusal to bring the feathered tourist back to the United States, Maria Fraterrigo and her African Gray Parrot, Plucky, are stranded on the Caribbean island.
“I got no more tears. My mind is blank. Just want to go home. That’s all; I don’t ask for much,” Fraterrigo stated.
On her flight from JFK International Airport to Puerto Rico on January 4, the grandma had no trouble with the 10-ounce bird. She and Plucky were able to board the Frontier flight in a TSA-approved carrier.
However, on April 5, after passing security at San Jose’s Luis Manoz Marin International Airport, Fraterrigo was denied entry at her gate.
According to reports, a staff member instructed her to “get rid” of her cherished bird, which she had authorized as a support animal, in order to board the aircraft.
“It is not possible for you to make the flight. Robert Fraterrigo, her son, recalled the directive his mother received from an airport worker: “Get rid of your bird and give it to somebody.”
Robert claimed that after contacting Frontier Airlines and chatting with a representative online, they were unable to assist him and only offered to reimburse him roughly $190 for the ticket.
“My mother did nothing wrong and she just needs to be taken care of and sent home,” the frustrated son stated. “She didn’t want anything else but to go home and no one wants to help.”
After her husband Richard, a retired NYPD court officer, passed away from 9/11-related cancer, the stranded octogenarian grew closer to her feathered pet, whom she referred to as an emotional support animal.
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Prior to Richard’s passing, the pair often took Plucky along on their trips to Puerto Rico.
The elder Fraterrigo told the source about the African Gray Parrot, which can learn to speak and has an average lifespan of 50 years, saying, “He kept me going, talking to me, making me laugh when I was down.”
Meanwhile, Frontier Airlines stated that it is attempting to return her to New York.
“We are currently investigating the matter and are in contact with her family to assist her in returning home,” a spokesperson for the airline stated.
Source: NY Post.
