A Texas man boarded a plane with his service dog, believing that everything would go smoothly, as usual. However, one flight attendant approached him and told him that his service dog wasn’t allowed in the seat right next to him. Confused, the man accepted, and many online were mad.
The interaction was shared on TikTok by Arthur, whose handle is serafimdogtraining. Alongside his service dog, Korra, he often shares content about dog training and interactions similar to the one attached above. The flight incident quickly went viral, garnering 448,300 views, 22,400 likes, and more than 700 comments in a matter of hours.
The Texas man had already boarded the flight, and his clip started mid-interaction. In the description, however, he detailed that, upon seating with Korra, he believed there were no issues, as no one told him he was doing anything wrong.
“We were caught off guard because several other flight attendants passed by us and we weren’t told anything like on previous flights,” he wrote.
No Seating
However, one flight attendant ended up talking to him about Korra. She explained to him that the service dog could either be on his lap or on the ground, not on the seat. He explained that Korra had just completed a deep pressure therapy task and was decompressing on the seat. The man also said that he always cleans seats afterward.
“Other people come and sit here right after you,” the flight attendant said. Arthur said that he only does that during takeoff and landing, but the flight attendant left for a bit. Moments later, she was back and told him that he couldn’t have “it” on the seat.
“Service animal goes on your lap or can go underneath there,” she added. The Texas man, defeated, complied and captioned the clip, “Sorry, Korra.”
Reactions
Many viewers heavily criticized the airline’s policies and the flight attendant herself. One said, “She’s a dog hater.” Another one commented, “Oh wow, I thought airlines cleaned their seats in between customers.”
Others, however, thought that the request wasn’t unreasonable. One wrote, “I have never seen a ‘service dog’ sit in the seat.” Another one added, “Dog fatigue,” to which Arthur responded, “Poor you.”
In the end, Arthur explained in the clip’s description that airlines such as Southwest and American Airlines have “strict policies for service dogs.”
