What *Really* Happened With that Monkey on the Airplane

When more details came out about the monkey on a Frontier flight, I became more and more confused.

In this case, a man brought a monkey on board an airplane.  The monkey was an Emotional Service Animal and was allowed to be on the plane.  However, he didn’t produce the paperwork, had hidden the monkey at first, and then “refused” to produce the paperwork until police got there.

baby monkey

The situation just became more clear.

I wrote on this the other day:

But this whole situation leads me to ask:

  • Why hide the monkey in a duffel bag when taking it on the plane?
  • And if you have proper paperwork, why refuse to show it?

As I wrote yesterday, he was legally allowed to take that monkey onto to plane and let it hang out on his lap.  I don’t see the benefit to being shady about the whole situation.

It turns out (of course) that there are more details to this situation.

The man had to rush to catch his flight and usually shows his ESA letter on his electronic device.  He has it stored in the cloud (not locally) and couldn’t pull it up in the air.  When the police came when the flight landed, he was able to pull up his support letter easily.

From USA Today:

“I didn’t tell anybody on the plane that I had him … I was the last one on. I was rushing,” Ellis told KSNV. “Usually, it’s on the roster but it wasn’t because of the miscommunication on my behalf.”

Ellis was able to access Gizmo’s paperwork for police officers that met the plane in Las Vegas and, after that, Ellis told the Review-Journal, “They were very apologetic and sweet at Frontier Airlines,†even offering to refund the cost of his flight.

At no point was the monkey disruptive, despite initial reports that the monkey was “loose”.

About Jeanne Marie Hoffman

Former bartender, still a geek. One equal part each cookies, liberty, football, music, travel, libations. Stir vigorously. +Jeanne Marie Hoffman Jeanne on Twitter

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2 comments

  1. Do not ever get a @Chase credit card from @SouthwestAir,they cheat loyalty members & steals points from loyal customers

  2. how the hell did he get the monkey through the checkpoint?

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