An 81-year-old Bronx grandmother who was stranded in Puerto Rico for nearly a week after an airline banned her from flying home with her emotional support parrot has finally returned to the Big Apple.
Maria Fraterrigo was stuck in a traveler’s worst nightmare after Frontier Airlines refused to fly her African Grey Parrot named Plucky back to the US on Saturday — but after sharing her tearful plea, the airline changed course.
“When they told me to get rid of him, that hurt so much. It really did. Just so inhumane,” an emotional Fraterrigo told ABC7 early Thursday morning after landing in New York City.
After Frontier flight 3548 touched down at JFK International Airport, Fraterrigo told the outlet she was so traumatized by the ordeal, she would never fly again — now planning to stay close to home in Riverdale instead.
For Fraterrigo, her feathered friend has acted as a “savior,” she said, helping her through tough times, including losing her husband Richard, a retired NYPD court officer who died from 9/11-related cancer in 2019.
While she and her husband frequented Puerto Rico, this was Fraterrigo’s first time returning to the island alone.
The 10-ounce bird was not an issue for the grandmother on her Jan. 4 flight from JFK to Puerto Rico, who boarded the Frontier flight with Plucky in his TSA-approved carrier.
But Fraterrigo ran into trouble on her return home when she was turned away at her gate on April 5 at Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Jose.
A worker reportedly told her to “get rid” of her beloved bird — which is approved as a service animal — to board the plane.
An airport employee told 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 part, acknowledged it had made a mistake on Fraterrigo’s initial flight out of New York, claiming the bird was not properly checked.
Frontier issued a refund and voucher but initially refused to fly the pair back home, citing its policy prohibiting large birds in the cabin, despite Fraterrigo providing a certificate of veterinary inspection from San Juan, as well as proof that Plucky was purchased in the US, at Bird Jungle in Scarsdale.
The airline, however, later changed its tune after countless calls and emails, some from the local ABC affiliate, pleading Fraterrigo’s case.
“Robert says you are a hero, you did it all, you did it all, thank you,” the grandmother told ABC7’s Kemberly Richardson, who helped advocate for their return and met the grandmother and at the airport
Fraterrigo could not be reached for comment.
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