A woman recently tried to get her “emotional support” peacock with her on a flight departing from Newark Liberty International Airport. Strangely, her plea was unceremoniously turned down even as she insisted she had booked a seat for the bird.
United Airlines released a statement, explaining the decision. “This animal did not meet guidelines for a number of reasons, including its weight and size. We explained this to the customers on three separate occasions before they arrived at the airport,” the statement read.
A video of the passenger, Ventiko, a performance artist from New York and her peacock named Dexter, who has an Instagram account, was posted by a travel show called The Jet Set.
A post on Dexter’s page highlighted the bird’s plight. “Spent 6 hours trying to get on my flight to LA (after following all required protocol),” it read. “Tomorrow my human friends are going to drive me cross country!”
Travelling with comfort animals for support isn’t exactly unheard of. According to United Airlines spokesman Charlie Hobart, around 76,000 emotional-support animals hopped onto flights in 2017 to accompany humans.
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