Woman stranded in Puerto Rico amid fight with airline over emotional support parrot

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A New York woman says she is stuck in Puerto Rico after Frontier Airlines refused to allow her to fly with her pet parrot.

Maria Fraterrigo, 76, of the Bronx, said she was able to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport with her emotional support bird Plucky in a TSA-approved carrier with zero issues.

But things flew south when she tried to board her return flight on April 5, WCBS reported.

“‘No, no, no, that was a mistake at JFK. If you want to get on the flight, get rid of the bird,’” Fraterrigo claimed Frontier Airlines flight staff told her in Puerto Rico.

“Imagine that!,” she told the outlet.

“I have been traumatized. It’s like I am abandoned,” she continued. “My medicine is home, doctor’s appointment. Everything is just a nightmare.”

The woman’s son, Robert Fraterrigo, said he has been trying to work with the airline to find a solution since the bird was very important to his mother.

He noted that the animal “gave her so much comfort” after his father’s death, and before he passed, the couple would often travel with Plucky.

Robert told the airline his mom had a letter from the vet saying Plucky was “an emotional support animal,” and the employees at JFK accepted the letter and “there was never a question as to what type of bird my mother was bringing.”

The airline argued that it was a mistake made by those staffers and that large birds like parrots were not allowed onboard.

Only “small household birds” are allowed onboard and only on domestic flights,” according to Frontier Airlines’ website, which also notes that “large birds,” including “parrots, macaws, cockatoos, birds of prey,” are “never accepted” onboard.

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The airline said it is investigating the matter but in the meantime, Fraterrigo was refunded about $190 for the ticket and issued a $250 voucher.

However, her son told the outlet that his mother is still stranded with no way home.

“This is an island. This is not where my mom can jump in a car, or I can jump in a car and go get her,” Robert said.

He has even reached out to smaller airlines to see if he could get his mother a private charter that would get her to Tampa, where he currently lives, but he has had no luck.

“I just want to get home,” Maria said. “With my bird.”