Many flight attendants will often joke that dogs flying with their owners are the best-behaved passengers on the plane but the crew members on one recent Delta flight might have permanently reassessed that assertion.
In spite of a ban on most emotional support animals traveling in the passenger cabin of Delta Air flights, the airline does still allow some pets to travel with their owner, although it doesn’t always go without incident, as passengers on one recent flight found out.
In a now-viral tweet thread, Mike Solana described what happened to his boyfriend as he was sitting on the Delta flight to Miami and it’s a story that no one would to live through themselves.
“my bf is on a plane to miami right now and a bulldog in the row next to him just had diarrhea,” Mike said in his original tweet. “everyone freaked out, the dog owner began sobbing, and the dog escaped. now, covered in poo, it is running around the plane. people are lifting up their legs and screaming,” Mike continued.
correction, the dog (window) was actually next to bf (middle). bf’s bookbag now covered in poo lmao (sorry). journey began when the girl next to bf (aisle) thought dog was cute and wanted to hold him on her lap, at which point he exploded.
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) September 12, 2022
In a follow up tweet, Mike said his boyfriend’s bookbag was now covered in dog poop.
The incident happened, Mike says, when the passenger sitting in the aisle seat took a liking to the dog and asked to pet it. The dog was let out of his carrier but “exploded” when he was sitting on the passenger’s lap.
further developments, flight attendant offering wine to most afflicted up front, biohazard kit has been taken out (!!!), seats covered in blankets, and a woman in first class is upset her dinner tray has not yet been taken away
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) September 12, 2022
The flight attendants swung into action, covering up soiled seats with spare blankets and breaking out a biohazard bag to safely dispose of items covered in dog poop.
Most importantly, perhaps, passengers caught up in the dog’s messy diarrhea episode were proffered wine as way of apology by the flight crew.
in the end, seats were lysol’d and scrubbed, 75 dollars in airline points were rewarded to direct hits, the lights were dimmed, and a very tired and ashamed lil pup watched tv for the rest of the trip. the plane safely landed. my bf is now home (he swears he can still smell poop)
— Mike Solana (@micsolana) September 12, 2022
“in the end, seats were lysol’d and scrubbed, 75 dollars in airline points were rewarded to direct hits, the lights were dimmed, and a very tired and ashamed lil pup watched tv for the rest of the trip. the plane safely landed. my bf is now home (he swears he can still smell poop),” Mike said in a follow up tweet.
The lesson to be learnt? Follow the airline rules and keep your pet in its carrier.
Delta was one of the most vocal opponents of emotional support animals being allowed in the passenger cabin and successfully lobbied for the rules to be tightened. The airline claimed it had seen an 85 percent increase in animal incidents onboard its aircraft since 2016 including urination, defecation and biting.
The carrier argued that allowing animals to ban emotional support animals would “enhance” the travel experience for everyone and in January 2021, Delta did exactly that.
Delta does, however, still allow small dogs, cats and household birds to travel in the cabin, but they must be kept in a leak-proof kennel throughout the journey and pets should not be removed from the carrier during the flight.
The airline charges up to $200 one-way for a pet to fly in the passenger cabin but doesn’t charge an additional fee for clean-up costs.
But if you’re double masked and triple vaxxed you’re safe!