The Rerouted Skytress

When I became a Skytress rarely did I ever see a dog on a plane. The only time I would see a dog is if we had a visually impaired passenger or a passenger in a wheelchair using a service dog for assistance. The past few years we have seen an influx of dogs on our airplanes. Some passengers travel with pets in the cabin in a carrier underneath their seat. We have passengers traveling with emotional support dogs. We have passengers traveling with service dogs. Rarely do we have an issue with dogs on our airplanes. However, just like passengers, dogs have their distinct personalities. And just like passengers, a few stand out more than others. For better or worse.

Years ago at my airline, only service dogs were allowed in the cabin. However, one day on my flight to Bangor, Maine, that policy changed. I was the Skytress In-Charge. The Captain briefed me that we would have a dog in the cabin. He explained the passenger received special permission from our CEO to fly with her dog inside the plane. However, he explained, she had to keep her dog in the carrier the entire flight. Minutes later, the woman, her family and dog pre-boarded the airplane. I briefed my crew to inform them that the woman had special permission from our CEO to have her dog on board. I reiterated to them the dog was to remain in the carrier until she got off the airplane. When I am the Skytress In-Charge, I always walk through the main cabin to pick up trash after the service. I like to do this so I can check on the passengers and see if they need anything. When I walked through the cabin on this particular day, I spied a gray Poodle sitting on her owner’s chest. The woman was having a wonderful time entertaining her dog. Sadly, I noticed, her family was blatantly ignoring her and the dog. Of course, I had to remind the woman she had agreed she would keep her dog in the carrier until she got off the plane. She said okay and put her dog back in the carrier. After we landed, the Captain and I stood at the cockpit door to thank our passengers for flying with us. The family of the woman traveling with the dog deplaned. A few minutes later the woman walked up the aisle. Her dog was out of the carrier. She was holding it. The dog was wearing a scarf, a sun visor and sunglasses. The Captain turned to me. He asked me if I had explained to the woman the dog needed to be in the carrier until she deplaned. I told the Captain I had reminded the woman of this several times during our flight. Since we had an unaccompanied minor on our flight, I walked him up to the gatehouse after the woman deplaned. I could see the woman was happily greeting her friends with her overly-accessorized dog. I could, also see, the friends and the woman’s family weren’t amused in the least. Amazingly, she didn’t notice this at all. I have no idea how this woman got permission from the CEO to bring her dog on board our flight that day. I like to think our CEO had a very weak spot in his heart for dogs that wear sun visors.

I’ve had my fair share of Houdini dogs on my flights. By this I mean, their owners had no idea how their dogs escaped from their carriers. Of course, it only takes a Skytress or Skyter to point out the carrier wasn’t completely latched or zipped. Not surprisingly, we, also, ultimately find out the owner intentionally unlatched or unzipped the carrier. Once on an evening flight I was putting away items in the back galley. The cabin lights were turned down. However, there was enough light in the cabin to see something scurry past the galley down the aisle. When I poked my head out of the galley I saw a small dog sitting in front of the lavatory. This caused me to pause for two reasons. First, the dog was so darn cute just sitting there. Second, I wondered how it got out of it’s carrier. Then the dog started to bark. The lavatory door opened. The gentleman inside the lavatory looked down and picked up the dog. He looked at me apologetically. As he walked towards me, he sheepishly tried to explain his dog had separation anxiety. I, of course, asked him how the dog got out of the carrier. He told me he didn’t know. I gave him my Skytress disbelief look. Then he admitted he had unzipped the carrier after we took off. He said he forgot to zip it back up before he went to the lavatory. I chuckled. I couldn’t help it. I could tell he truly loved his dog. Plus, his dog had the cutest puppy eyes. The dog was innocently looking right at me begging me for forgiveness. Ah puppy dog eyes……They get me every time.

On another flight, I was in the galley setting up my first-class meals. The gentleman at 3C rang his call button. I quickly went back to inquire what he needed. I barely had the words, “Yes, sir” out of my mouth before he spoke. He informed me a dog had just peed on his leg. I gasped. As I was apologizing to him, I could see the passengers in the bulkhead row in the main cabin squirming around in their seats. Then I saw the dog shoot out from the bulkhead row and dart into another row. I quickly went to make a PA. We had several dogs on our flight and I didn’t know which dog was the Houdini dog. I asked the passenger that had lost their dog to please ring their call button. After a short pause, a gentleman rang his call button. Fortunately other passengers caught the Houdini dog as he scurried about in the cabin. The dog owner and I met in the aisle. He didn’t seem too concerned his dog had escaped. I informed the gentleman his dog had peed on a first-class passenger. The gentleman timidly said he wasn’t sure how his dog got out of the carrier. He said he was sorry and took his dog back to his seat with him. I went back to the gentleman in 3C and apologized again. I told him I was going to give him a cleaning voucher to get his pants cleaned. He said it wasn’t necessary. He laughed and told me he had passengers throw up on him before, but, never had a dog pee on him. I insisted I was going to give him the cleaning voucher. It was the least I could do. I headed to the galley to get the voucher. I had just started to fill out the voucher when the gentleman in 3C rang his call button again. I hurried back to his seat. Before I could say anything, he told me the dog was back. I couldn’t believe it! The dog’s owner was beside me in a flash grabbing for his dog and apologizing. I walked back to the dog owner’s seat with him. I asked the gentleman if their was something wrong with the dog carrier that was allowing the dog to get out. The gentleman then confessed he had unzipped the top of the carrier. He didn’t think the dog was getting enough air. I looked at the carrier. It was a mesh-dog carrier. I told the gentleman the dog would have sufficient air because his dog carrier was a mesh carrier. I told him he would have to keep the dog carrier completely zipped the rest of the flight. I couldn’t fault the Houdini dog for escaping. Some humans just need to be trained better.

I once had a first-class passenger ring her call button and ask if I had any tape she could use. She explained she was taking her dog home to have unscheduled surgery later that day. Her dog was anxious and in pain. It had bit a hole in the dog carrier. The dog was feverishly working at the hole to get out. Now, I’ve told you in the past…the one thing you should always take with you on a deserted island is a Skytress……because Skytresses always have whatever you need. Interestingly, I had duct tape in my bag. Yes, I laughed when my Skyter friend David showed me his roll of duct tape once. Then on my next trip I could have used duct tape. So, I too, threw one in my bag. I gave the woman my roll of duct tape. She started taping away. I could hear her poor scared dog scraping away inside the carrier. My heart broke for him. A little later in the flight the woman stopped me and asked me if she could use my tape again. The dog had worked at making another hole in the carrier. I could tell the woman was embarrassed. More than that, I could tell she was extremely concerned for her injured dog. I, also, knew she had another flight to catch to get home. I had such compassion for her and her injured dog. I went back into my flight bag to retrieve the tape. I handed the woman my roll of duct tape and told her to keep it. She was extremely grateful. I’m sure her dog was more grateful when they landed back home and could get out of his duct tape carrier.

I am always in awe of the service dogs that come fly on our planes. They are smart, hard working dogs. They are usually the sweetest dogs, too. One day I had a gentleman that came on board with his service dog. The gentleman was visually impaired. He was, also, one of our preferred passengers. He flew our airline a lot. I had a wonderful conversation with him as we walked to his seat. I asked him about his dog. His dog was a beautiful Golden Retriever. The gentleman told me this was his dog’s last working flight. His dog had been his service dog and family dog for years. Now he was just going to be his family dog. He had another dog that would travel with him in the future. I knew this flight home would be special for both of them. It was special for me, too. I was honored I was working the flight and was able to meet them both. I often think about this gentleman and his dog. I wonder if his dog is like my dog Finley. She always looks towards the sky when an airplane flies overhead. Unlike like the Golden Retriever, Finley has never actually flown on a plane. So, she doesn’t know what she is missing. I like to think the Golden Retriever misses some things about flying. Especially, the kind Skytresses and Skyters that thought he was absolutely adorable.

I have a lifelong love of German Shepherds. Our friends in Montana had a German Shepherd named Shep. Shep was the best dog. He took great care of us kids. He would bark if we got too close to the road. Then he would herd us back into the yard. So, when we have a German Shepherd on our flights, it is always a treat for me. One particular flight we had a Military Police Officer traveling with his service dog. I would spy at the dog every time I walked by him. I started to notice the dog would turn his head away from me whenever I walked by. It started to humor me. I told my crew the dog was shunning me. I walked by the dog several times so my crew could witness it. We all laughed. We laughed even harder when the dog would constantly stare at all of them as they walked through the aisle. When we arrived in Atlanta our crew had to change airplanes. On the way to the next plane I was telling the Captain about the German Shepherd and how he shunned me the entire flight. When we got to the next gate we had to wait for our aircraft to deplane. The Captain and I continued our conversation. I noticed the MP and the German Shepherd from our previous flight walking up the concourse. I pointed them out to the Captain. Sure enough, as they walked by us, the dog gave me a half-glance then he abruptly turned his head away. The Captain chuckled. He agreed. The dog definitely shunned me. This dog had a lot of character. It made me love him even more. I think he recognized this, too. I suspect he was just playing hard to get.

Talk about character. One day I was standing at the boarding door. A Goldendoodle entered the aircraft. You know I smiled…..because I have a Goldendoodle, too. My Finley is a cool dog. But, this Goldendoodle’s cool factor was off the charts. He had a blue Mohawk and was wearing blue-mirrored sunglasses. If the Fronz was a dog, this would be him. Of course, after the dog and his owner got settled in their seats, I had to go back and talk with them. The gentleman told me his dog’s name was Derby. Derby is a surfing dog. I smiled and told the gentleman Ron would love to have a dog just like Derby. Ron was a surfer, too. Finley loves the water. But, getting her to sit on a surfboard to ride a wave would be almost impossible. The gentleman proudly told me Derby has won several surfing competitions. He then handed me a business card. Not his business card. No, Derby had his own business card. It even had his blue Mohawk fur picture on it. It cracked me up. I just read recently Derby and his owner are featured on Amazon Prime’s, “The Pack”. A business card AND a TV show. Please don’t tell my dog Finley!

I know there have been some awful…awful…awful….stories about dogs on airplanes. Airlines have implemented more procedures when traveling with dogs to help prevent these incidences. Still, I can’t help but smile when our furry passengers board our planes. They all have their own personalities. Yes, there are even times they behave better than their owners. If we Skytresses and Skyters could put the owners in a carrier and place them under the seat on these days, …..life would be much better for both the crew and the dog. Yikes! I know. I know. That last comment was a wee bit….ruff!