Passenger kicked off JetBlue flight for bringing pet opossum on board

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This was published 4 years ago

Passenger kicked off JetBlue flight for bringing pet opossum on board

Updated
JetBlue won't allow possums on board, even if other US airlines will.

JetBlue won't allow possums on board, even if other US airlines will.Credit: iStock

Bound for Texas on a mission to cheer up his mother, Gerald Tautenhahn thought his pet opossum, Zatara, might bring a smile to her face, KCBS reports.

The Newport Beach, California, man had no problems bringing Zatara on a JetBlue flight to Austin in a pet carrier, but when he boarded his return flight a few days later, he ran into a big one, USA Today reported.

"Already boarded on the plane sitting on the seat and one of the crew members came up and said, 'hey, can I speak with you outside?'" Tautenhahn said, KTBC reported. The hangup? Zatara.

"They said 'hey, either you can leave her here or you can stay with her but she can't fly,'" he said, according to the station. "The feeling was insane, it was frustrating beyond belief because they let me come here with her but now I can't return with her."

Tautenhahn said he was especially annoyed because he'd contacted the federal Department of Transportation, JetBlue and the California airport before his flight to Texas to check on whether he could bring Zatara on board, KCBS reported.

He says they all told him he'd have no problem as long as Zatara was in a pet carrier, and he'd flown to Austin without any trouble, according to the station.

But JetBlue says opossums are not acceptable for air travel on its flights, USA Today reported.

"JetBlue gladly accepts small dogs and cats only in an approved pet carrier," the airline said in a statement, according to the publication. "On the customer's return trip, our crewmembers in Austin witnessed the opossum come out of its carrier and saw that it was not a cat or dog. The crewmembers informed the customer that the opossum would not be able to travel on the flight and worked to assist the customer with his options."

Tautenhahn says the airline was not very helpful, KTBC reported.

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"I was like, guys, do you have any, like, help, any solutions other than 'go away' and they didn't," he said, according to the station.

Tautenhahn says the airline suggested renting a car and driving 2000 kilometres back to Newport Beach, KCBS reported. He eventually bought a ticket on a United Airlines flight and returned home — with Zatara — without further trouble.

"I'm out four days of work now," he said, KTBC reported. "I've got deadlines to meet and I had to push them all back."

The Sacramento Bee/TNS

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