Janelle Rupkalvis regularly flies with her four-year-old cat Asparagus. Travelling from Seattle to Salt Lake City, she deliberately left plenty of time, arriving early to settle him in.
But on this particular occasion, things took a turn she never expected.
A shocking reaction
"We sit down and within like 30 seconds, maybe a minute, maybe two minutes, a flight attendant came up to us", explained Janelle on TikTok. "
“She goes, 'If your cat doesn’t stop meowing, we’re going to have to ask you to get off the plane”.
“I was like, ‘What?’ Like, ‘One, he’s a cat. Two, he’s not screaming.’ He’s meowing because there’s a lot of commotion", Janelle continued, querying what the attendant would have said to the parent of a crying child.
Clarifying the policy
Certain she had never heard mention of the rule before, Janelle contacted customer services while her partner tried to comfort Asparagus.
An online chat confirmed that according to Delta's policy, owners are responsible for keeping the pet passive and in the carrier for the duration of the flight.
Nowhere in the policy is the mention of keeping pets silent, which Janelle suggests is a "huge distinction".
Delta airlines offered the couple 30,000 miles in compensation, with pet friendly flight attendants commenting on their story.
"As a FA, I love my feline passengers! My cat meows a lot too when she’s going somewhere unfamiliar", shared a viewer.
