An 81-year-old Bronx grandmother who was stranded in Puerto Rico for practically every week after an airline banned her from flying house together with her emotional help parrot has lastly returned to the Huge Apple.
Maria Fraterrigo was caught in a traveler’s worst nightmare after Frontier Airways refused to fly her African Gray Parrot named Plucky again to the US on Saturday — however after sharing her tearful plea, the airline modified course.
“When they told me to get rid of him, that hurt so much. It really did. Just so inhumane,” an emotional Fraterrigo informed ABC7 early Thursday morning after touchdown in New York Metropolis.
After Frontier flight 3548 touched down at JFK Worldwide Airport, Fraterrigo informed the outlet she was so traumatized by the ordeal, she would by no means fly once more — now planning to remain near house in Riverdale as an alternative.
For Fraterrigo, her feathered buddy has acted as a “savior,” she mentioned, serving to her by robust instances, together with dropping her husband Richard, a retired NYPD court docket officer who died from 9/11-related most cancers in 2019.
Whereas she and her husband frequented Puerto Rico, this was Fraterrigo’s first time returning to the island alone.
The ten-ounce chook was not a problem for the grandmother on her Jan. 4 flight from JFK to Puerto Rico, who boarded the Frontier flight with Plucky in his TSA-approved provider.
However Fraterrigo bumped into hassle on her return house when she was turned away at her gate on April 5 at Luis Muñoz Marin Worldwide Airport in San Jose.
A employee reportedly informed her to “get rid” of her beloved chook — which is authorised as a service animal — to board the aircraft.
An airport worker informed the octogenarian: “You won’t be able to make the flight. Get rid of your bird and give it to somebody,” her son, Robert Fraterrigo, recounted to ABC7 earlier this week
The airline, for its half, acknowledged it had made a mistake on Fraterrigo’s preliminary flight out of New York, claiming the chook was not correctly checked.
Frontier issued a refund and voucher however initially refused to fly the pair again house, citing its coverage prohibiting giant birds within the cabin, regardless of Fraterrigo offering a certificates of veterinary inspection from San Juan, in addition to proof that Plucky was bought within the US, at Chook Jungle in Scarsdale.
The airline, nonetheless, later modified its tune after numerous calls and emails, some from the native ABC affiliate, pleading Fraterrigo’s case.
“Robert says you are a hero, you did it all, you did it all, thank you,” the grandmother informed ABC7’s Kemberly Richardson, who helped advocate for his or her return and met the grandmother and on the airport
Fraterrigo couldn’t be reached for remark.
