A Southwest Airlines passenger said she had to leave her pet fish behind at the airport after staff reportedly wouldn't allow her to board with it
- A Southwest Airlines passenger said she was forced by the airline to give up her pet fish prior to boarding a flight last week at Denver International Airport.
- According to ABC 10 News San Diego, Lanice Powless, a student at the University of Colorado, was traveling to California from Colorado last Wednesday, December 12, when she said that a Southwest Airlines employee did not allow her to board the flight with her pink beta fish, Cassie.
- Southwest Airlines' pet policy webpage states that only "small vaccinated domestic cats and dogs" are allowed to be taken onboard flights.
- "Our Team offered to re-book the customer for a later flight to allow them to make arrangements for their pet but the Customer refused that option. The customer eventually traveled on their originally scheduled flight," a Southwest spokesperson told Business Insider on Monday.
A Southwest Airlines passenger said she was forced by the airline to give up her pet fish prior to boarding a flight last week at Denver International Airport.
According to ABC 10 News San Diego, Lanice Powless, a student at the University of Colorado, was traveling from Denver to San Diego on December 12 when she said that a Southwest staff member did not allow her to board the flight with her pink beta fish, Cassie.
According to guidelines on the Transportation Security Administration's website, live fish in water are allowed in carry-on bags as long as they are in "a clear transparent container" that can be inspected by a TSA officer. Live fish are not allowed in checked baggage.
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But Southwest's pet policy website states that only "small vaccinated domestic cats and dogs" are allowed to be taken onboard flights, and they must be placed under the seat in front of their owner. Additionally, Southwest only allows six pets per flight, "with a limit of one pet carrier per paying Customer traveling on the same flight."
"A Customer attempted to bring a pet fish onboard their flight from Denver to San Diego," a spokesperson for Southwest said in a statement to Business Insider. "Our Customer Service Agents informed the Customer about Southwest's pets policy which does not allow for live fish to travel in the passenger cabin."
"Our Team offered to re-book the customer for a later flight to allow them to make arrangements for their pet but the Customer refused that option. The customer eventually traveled on their originally scheduled flight."
According to ABC 10 News San Diego, Powless first asked the Southwest staff if she could leave Cassie at the counter for a friend to pick up on her behalf. When the airline reportedly refused this request, Powless then found a traveler on another airline that allows fish to board to agree to take care of Cassie. But Powless and the traveler were apparently separated by airport staff before exchanging information, leading to Powless losing her pet fish.
"Everyone's laughing at me. Yes, it's a fish. I know. But dang, it was my pet. And just because it wasn't a cat or dog, it wasn't as important?" Powless said to ABC 10 San Diego.