A man was stranded alone for Christmas due to Delta Airlines. The airline allegedly did not fully disclose its pet policies. This resulted in the family missing their flight right before the holiday.
@leothecavapookie, an account created by Logan Harris, posted about the chance encounter with the airline. The video, which was posted on Dec. 25, quickly garnered 46,000 views. His dog Leo could fit inside Delta’s recommended carry-on size, which was 18 x 11 x 11. However, the cavapoo would not be able to fully extend his legs inside the kennel without the top touching his head in that sized kennel.
For this reason, Delta Airlines let the family know that they would not be able to bring Leo onboard in his carrier. As Harris described, “Nowhere in the Delta’s pet policy website does it say that they have to be able to fully extend their legs and head and be able to stand up in the kennel without the top touching them.”
Despite Delta not clarifying this issue beforehand, the Harris family received the brunt end of the pet policy.
Stranded at the airport
The Harris family arrived at the Tampa airport with Leo, who was fully able to “stand up” and spin around inside his kennel. On the Uber ride to the airport, they even captured video of the dog doing so, spinning around before the flight.
Delta’s policies dictated that a dog traveling would have to “be small enough to fit comfortably in a kennel with the ability to move around, without touching or sticking out from the sides,” as Harris recounted.
While Leo was “grazing the sides” of his kennel, he could comfortably move based on his owner’s account.
Despite this and getting the exact carry-on size required for Leo, the gate agent stopped them and asked to see the dog in his crate. Harris showed her Leo’s kennel, and they immediately told the Harris family that they would not be able to board the flight.
Harris and his wife were incredibly confused by this, considering their dog already made it past security. “We were like, ‘What do you mean? He fits in the carrier. He’s able to move around,’” Harris said.
The family was also shocked as they had seen many other videos on social media of dogs that were “much bigger” fitting inside 18 x 11 x 11 carriers and getting onto Delta flights.
“We have seen. Numerous, numerous videos on TikTok and other social media. Sites of people that have brought their dogs as a carry on bigger than Leo,” the TikToker said. “And, um, even those dogs, like, they obviously were not able to stand in their carrier or move around. We’ve seen some dogs that were like 22 pounds get on as a carry-on. Leo was 16 pounds.”
The Harris family discusses their preparations with Delta
According to Harris, they had messaged Delta before the flight to ensure Leo was safe to travel. They sent the dog’s size, the carrier size, and his breed. According to Harris, the airline approved them for travel.
“There was no warning [that] he’s going to have to be able to stand all the way in his carrier,” Harris said. “He has to be able to be small enough for that. Like they didn’t mention anything like that on the messaging board or anything.”
The content creator described Delta’s policy as wishy-washy and said that it is very difficult to be flexible for airline flights. For that reason, they were not able to find another flight from Tampa to Minnesota and inevitably had to spend the holidays at home.
“I’m just very disappointed in the way Delta has handled this,” the video creator stated.
@leothecavapookie Thank you @delta for ruining our Christmas! ?? #delta #deltaairlines #flyingwithdogs #flyingwithadog #flyingwithdogs ♬ original sound – Leo the Cavapoo
Airlines—inconsistent rules and policies
Other commenters claimed that some airlines have forgone specific rules regarding pet travel to create more consistent flying experiences, but many airlines still have very inconsistent pet policies.
The inconsistency has created many practical issues for fliers across the board. An airline like Delta may allow a certain pet to travel, but American and Southwest would not. Delta may have an issue with dog boarding, but Frontier does not raise the same complaint.
As one person described, “They literally change it every time. I had the most nightmarish experience with this on southwest LGA to STL. One agent told me my pup was too tall, [so] I told her I flew with her two weeks prior with Delta Air Lines. She said ‘this isn’t Delta.’ So I had to rebook (first class with Delta). As I went back up to the Southwest counter to cancel my flight, a DIFFERENT agent [rang] me up for the pet fee. Like truly they just decide based on mood.”
One viewer shared, “United got rid of this rule about a year ago for this EXACT reason. The rule was too subjective and inconsistent.” While United may have forgone its pet policies, a majority of airlines have unique costs, policies, and regulations regarding pet travel.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Harris and Delta Airlines via email for comment.
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