Man Details How He and His Opossum Booted from Holiday Flight
A pet opossum just wanted to go home, but airport officials weren’t playing.
A California man trying to return home from Austin, Texas, with his pet opossum after Thanksgiving said he was booted from his JetBlue flight once airline workers realized what he had in his carrying case.
“We boarded the plane to go home and after a 30 minute delay, a Jet Blue employee had me get off the plane and said I couldn’t fly,” said an Instagram account registered to Zatara the Opossum.
That account is operated by Zatara’s owner Gerald Tautenhahn, according to USA Today. The Long Beach, Calif., man apparently has opposable thumbs.
Tautenhahn writes that he had no trouble flying from the Golden State to the Lone Star State and claims the flight crew even took photos with Zatara, until someone pointed out that marsupial can’t fly — at least not on Jet Blue.
The desperate pet owner said he spent three hours on the phone with Jet Blue customer service reps, who suggested he rent a car and drive nearly 1,400 miles to get home.
Instead, Tautenhahn and Zatara booked a flight with United Airlines and returned safely to California.
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