A 76-year-old New York woman is stranded in Puerto Rico because Frontier Airlines made a nightmarish error involving her pet bird.
Maria Fraterrigo, a Bronx resident, was unable to travel home from a trip to San Juan on Saturday when her emotional support parrot was not allowed on the return flight, CBS News reported.
“I got no more tears my mind is blank, just want to go home. That’s all, I don’t ask for much,” Fraterrigo told CBS.
Although Plucky the parrot was allowed to fly out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in an airline-approved bird cage, gate agents in Puerto Rico told her the airline made a mistake by allowing that in the first place.
“No, no, that was their mistake, not ours. If you want to get on the flight, get rid of the bird. Imagine that,” Fraterrigo claimed they told her. “I have been traumatized, I want to go home. That’s all I want. I want to go home.”
Fraterrigo and Plucky, an African Grey Parrot, have been inseparable for over two decades. She got the pet bird after her husband, Richard Fraterrigo, a court officer who also worked with the NYPD, died from cancer related to 9/11.
“He kept me going, talking to me, making me laugh when I was down,” Fraterrigo said.
It seems like Fraterrigo and her husband used to love traveling to Puerto Rico with Plucky, and did so for many years until the NYPD officer’s death in 2019.
“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 Fraterrigo told CBS.
According to the airline’s website, small household birds are allowed in the cabin, but large birds like parrots are never accepted. However, Frontier never told Robert Fraterrigo this when he booked the 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.”
The Bronx woman shared how helpless she feels, saying, “It’s like I’m abandoned. My medicine is home. Doctor’s appointment. Everything is just a nightmare.” She added: “I am a wreck, I am shaking all over.”
Her son seems to share the same sentiment.
“After my father died, this bird gave her so much comfort,” he told CBS. “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.”
Meanwhile, Maria Fraterrigo is adamant that she will not return home without her bird and hopes that the airline can amend the issue. “I just want to get home. That’s it. With my bird,” she said.
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