Airline Crew Placed Cats Near Passenger With Feline Allergy, Woman Claims

A woman blamed Delta Air Lines for forcing her husband to deplane over his cat allergies.

Jackie Reckline was traveling from Atlanta, Georgia, to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with her husband and daughter when the incident took place. The date of Reckline’s flight is not known.

The woman told NBC-affiliated 11Alive that the issue started when they saw the flight attendants carrying two pet carriers on board. The carriers contained cats and since the crew could not fit the containers under the seats due to their size, they decided to place them in the front storage closet, which was near to where Reckline was sitting with her family.

This was despite the fact that Delta’s carry-on pet policy read, “They (pets) must be able to fit in a small, ventilated pet carrier that fits under the seat in front of you.”

Reckline said she told the attendants her husband could not be in the same flight as cats as he suffered from a serious allergy to felines.

"My husband will go into anaphylactic shock in the air. It was almost a three-hour flight. He can't stay on board if the cats are going to be on board," she said.

According to Reckline, while a person’s health should have got priority over someone’s pets, the attendants decided to keep the cats on board in spite of her husband’s allergies, but not before making a mockery of the situation.

"Joining us tonight are Atlanta-based flight attendants and Milo and Roxy... and then chuckles," she said they announced over the intercom.

As a result, while she and her daughter stayed on board, her husband was forced to take the next flight out of Atlanta. Delta could not arrange for a flight for Reckline’s husband on the same night, so he had to wait for a flight the next day.

To compensate for their troubles, the airline paid for Reckline husband’s hotel accommodation, refunded a portion of the family’s tickets and additional monetary compensation as an apology.

A Delta spokesperson said they were investigating the incident and that they encouraged passengers to list any kind of allergies or illnesses under the “special request” section when they book tickets. Reckline said she wasn’t aware of that policy.

"Someone needs to let other people know this that the onus is totally on you to put it in special requests ...you just don't know what animals are going to end up on that plane with you," she said.

She added: "You chose cats over a human life, and that's appalling to me.”

Regarding the incident, Delta Air Lines issued the following statement: “The comfort and safety of every customer who flies Delta is our top priority and we work hard to ensure those with allergies are well taken care of. We have reached out directly to this customer to better understand his and his family’s experience and apologize for the inconvenience this situation may have caused.”