Dog dies after United flight attendant forces it into overhead bin

[mystery-ak]

News
Dog dies after United flight attendant forces it into overhead bin

By Christian Gollayan

March 13, 2018 | 2:55pm |


 A passenger posted a photo of the dead pet on Facebook. "My heart broke," the caption reads. Facebook

On Monday night, a dog died in a plane after a United Airlines flight attendant forced the dog into an overhead bin.

Maggie Gremminger, a passenger on a flight from Houston to New York’s LaGuardia Airport, uploaded a photo of the dog’s owners on Twitter. “I want to help this woman and her daughter. They lost their dog because of an @united flight attendant. My heart is broken,” reads the image caption.

The Points Guy reports that during their flight, an attendant insisted that the woman put her dog, which was held in a TSA-approved pet carrier, in an overhead bin for the rest of the flight.

Passengers heard barking during the flight, but didn’t learn that the dog had died until the flight was over.

more
https://nypost.com/2018/03/13/dog-dies-after-united-flight-attendant-forces-it-into-overhead-bin/

[Jazzhead]

It died of claustrophobia and fear.  How cruel. 

[Fishrrman]

The poor dog probably died from fear.

The flight attendant ought to be fired.

Remember the video "United breaks guitars"?

How about a new one:
"United kills your dog!"

[Applewood]

Probably had little to no air to breathe either. 

A TSA-approved carrier would fit under the seat,  Why would the flight attendant insist the dog be put in the overheads?  Was the flight crowded and there was no room for the carrier under the seat?  Hell, I would have let the family put their dog under my seat. 

Makes no sense. 

And United offered their condolences to the family.  Big friggin' deal.  That airline needs a thorough investigating and housecleaning.  Seems there have been too many "incidents" involving United lately.

[Free Vulcan]

United is like the DMV of the airline industry.

[LilLamb]

The woman that owned the dog is solely responsible for its death as far as I’m concerned. She should have walked off the plane with her dog while it was alive. Apparently keeping her schedule was more important

[Jazzhead]

The woman that owned the dog is solely responsible for its death as far as I’m concerned. She should have walked off the plane with her dog while it was alive. Apparently keeping her schedule was more important

That's a good point.  On recent flights I've been on, several small dogs rode in carriers stowed at the passenger's feet.  But forcing a live dog into an overnight bin is appalling.   She should have taken her dog and exited the plane.   

[driftdiver]

The poor dog probably died from fear.

The flight attendant ought to be fired.

Remember the video "United breaks guitars"?

How about a new one:
"United kills your dog!"

These dogs have breathing problems.  Combined with stress and poor air and they can die easily.

[goodwithagun]

The woman that owned the dog is solely responsible for its death as far as I’m concerned. She should have walked off the plane with her dog while it was alive. Apparently keeping her schedule was more important

“The Points Guy reports that during their flight, an attendant insisted that the woman put her dog, which was held in a TSA-approved pet carrier, in an overhead bin for the rest of the flight.”

[driftdiver]

The woman that owned the dog is solely responsible for its death as far as I’m concerned. She should have walked off the plane with her dog while it was alive. Apparently keeping her schedule was more important

Her schedule and the $800 it would have cost to maybe take another flight.

[driftdiver]

Probably a test to see if they could put passengers up there.

[EasyAce]

*sigh*

[240B]

I would guess that it was about air flow. No flowing air in the bins, build up of CO2, and lights out.
Don't really understand how the owner could resist checking on the dog every hour or so to see how it is doing. Or at least once to give it some water or something. Speaking for myself, I would not have been able to resist taking a peek now and then.

Sounds like the owner put the dog up there, shut the door, and from then on it was 'out of sight, out of mind'.

[LilLamb]

“The Points Guy reports that during their flight, an attendant insisted that the woman put her dog, which was held in a TSA-approved pet carrier, in an overhead bin for the rest of the flight.”

I had already read this somewhere else so I didn’t read this article. I’ll have to look up the other article because during the flight would make a difference in where I placed the blame.

*edited to add - This link says she was told when she boarded and it was still possible to leave the plane and speak to airline officials at the airport.
 http://abcnews.go.com/US/dog-dies-united-flight-overhead-bin-airline-confirms/story?id=53718599

[LilLamb]

Her schedule and the $800 it would have cost to maybe take another flight.

Except that we know the airline would have rescheduled her flight at no cost because any person with any sense knows that the airline would never sanction putting the dog in the overhead bin no matter how ignorant one of their flight attendants acted.

[driftdiver]

Except that we know the airline would have rescheduled her flight at no cost because any person with any sense knows that the airline would never sanction putting the dog in the overhead bin no matter how ignorant one of their flight attendants acted.

@LilLamb

I fly a lot.   It is not a good assumption they wouldn't have charged her.   The way flights are these days it could be a couple days before she got home.

[GtHawk]

“The Points Guy reports that during their flight, an attendant insisted that the woman put her dog, which was held in a TSA-approved pet carrier, in an overhead bin for the rest of the flight.”

@goodwithagun
Haters gonna hate, no use expecting them to actually read the article.

[Gefn]

I can't ping this my heart is crying too hard

[cato potatoe]

I am continually amazed at how many people still patronize that airline. 

In any event, the correct response to such a command would be "eff off."  Never comply with a bully, no matter the cost.

[austingirl]

I can't ping this my heart is crying too hard

I would never have allowed my dog to be put in an overhead bin. That poor animal. I'm sickened.

[Applewood]

I refuse to blame the owner.  Flyers are told they must comply with any and all directives from the flight crew.  The owner was doing what she was told.

As for checking on the dog -- well, airlines don't particularly like passengers to be out of their seats anymore than necessary.  They like keeping flyers restrained in their seats.  And according to the report, some passengers on this flight heard barking.  The woman probably thought the dog was ok. 

The blame rests with the flight attendant and the airline period. 

[driftdiver]

I am continually amazed at how many people still patronize that airline. 

In any event, the correct response to such a command would be "eff off."  Never comply with a bully, no matter the cost.

In this case it would be federal charges and jail time.

[LilLamb]

@LilLamb

I fly a lot.   It is not a good assumption they wouldn't have charged her.   The way flights are these days it could be a couple days before she got home.

I’ve flown a lot and I know what you can complain about and get action on. This was a serious mistake on the part of the flight attendant. It was clearly not an action that any reasonable person would support.  If I calmly told the flight attendant that putting the live animal in the overhead bin was against the airlines rules and she still told me to do it. I would have told her that I needed to exit the plane and speak to the airline. I would have asked all those around me to friend me on facebook if they wished to share what they had seen in this incident, so I could get their contact info to pass on to the airline.  If you know you are in the right and you are calm and polite you will get apologies and recompense. I think 99% of people that get no action from the airlines were unsuccessful because they are upset and are perceived as rude or unreasonable before their case is even heard.

[driftdiver]

I’ve flown a lot and I know what you can complain about and get action on. This was a serious mistake on the part of the flight attendant. It was clearly not an action that any reasonable person would support.  If I calmly told the flight attendant that putting the live animal in the overhead bin was against the airlines rules and she still told me to do it. I would have told her that I needed to exit the plane and speak to the airline. I would have asked all those around me to friend me on facebook if they wished to share what they had seen in this incident, so I could get their contact info to pass on to the airline.  If you know you are in the right and you are calm and polite you will get apologies and recompense. I think 99% of people that get no action from the airlines were unsuccessful because they are upset and are perceived as rude or unreasonable before their case is even heard.

@LilLamb

And I've been threatened with arrest for exactly what you recommend.  I've seen security called on a guy when he asked to speak to a supervisor.   The agent said it was a threat.

[thackney]

In this case it would be federal charges and jail time.

And placed on the no-fly list.