Passenger Suing Airline After His Dog Passed Away When Employees Downgraded His Pup From First Class To Coach
He insisted that his dog be kept in first class, but the airline employees refused to listen to his pleas.
New Africa | Shutterstock A San Francisco man was left heartbroken after the death of his dog at the hands of airline employees during a flight from New York to California.
Michael Contillo is now seeking legal action against Alaska Airlines, alleging negligence that led to the death of his beloved French Bulldog, who had been perfectly healthy before boarding the plane.
The passenger is suing the airline after his dog passed away when employees downgraded his dog from first class to coach.
According to NBC News, Contillo had been traveling to New York in November 2023 with his father and two French Bulldogs — Ash and Kora. Contillo and his dogs managed to fly to New York in first class without any issues. Upon landing, the dogs were healthy and safe.
Contillo even took his dogs to a veterinary hospital to get them checked out ahead of their flight back to San Francisco, and the dogs were deemed healthy to travel. However, during their February 2024 flight to California, things took a dark turn.
At the last minute, Contillo and his dogs were forced by the airline to change seats.
The passenger claimed that he'd specifically purchased a first-class ticket so that his dogs would be around fewer people and so that they could get settled before the entire plane was full. However, for an undisclosed reason, flight attendants required him and his dogs to move to coach after they were already situated in their seats.
He recalled telling the flight attendants that the dogs were "calm at the moment" but that moving them after the plane was full would "make them really anxious and scared and stressed, and that's dangerous, especially before we're about to change altitude [and] cabin pressure."
The flight attendants, however, completely disregarded Contillo's concerns. "Everything that I said went unacknowledged," he told NBC.
As the dog owner warned, this seat change caused Ash to become anxious, leading to health complications that Contillo alleges ultimately ended in his death.
Following the dog's passing, Contillo filed a lawsuit against the airline.
By the time Contillo landed in San Francisco, the dog's body "was entirely in rigor mortis." Described as being "like a son to his owner, who did not have children of his own," the airline never reached out to the heartbroken passenger about the death of his dog.
"What I'll never forget is having the entire crew and pilots deboard the plane, looking at me weeping over my dog, and not a single one coming over to offer any help [or] any condolence," he shared.
In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco County Superior Court against Alaska Airlines, Contillo alleges breach of contract, negligence, negligent hiring and supervision, and negligent infliction of emotional distress and seeks punitive damages to be determined at trial.
This isn't the first time that Alaska Airlines has been accused of negligence regarding a passenger's pet.
In a July 2024 report from USA Today, a family was left as heartbroken as Contillo after the death of their bulldog, Frank, who passed away from overheating at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu as the family waited to board the plane.
Angie and Gary Engelgau explained that they've flown with Alaska Airlines before and the crew members usually turn up the air conditioning on the plane, but apparently hadn't that time.
Since it had been hot in Hawaii, the family had taken their dogs out of the carrier to get some relief. When it was time to board, they made their way onto the plane, which was just as hot as the terminal. By that point, Frank had begun panting quite loudly, and the family begged Alaska Airlines' crew members to bring them some ice.
Unfortunately, by the time the employee returned with ice, Frank had passed. "This was 100% completely avoidable if Alaska had acted quicker to try to get us ice,” Gary Engelgau told USA Today. "We understand things are crazy but when you can hear an animal is in distress, you can hear him outside the plane."
For breeds short-nosed like French Bulldogs and pugs, traveling is quite tricky, so airline employees must listen to the owners when they're adamant about the treatment of their beloved pets.
Sadly, Contillo was forced to go against what he knew was best for his dogs, and in the end, lost one of his family members. Hopefully, he gets the justice he deserves, and moving forward, Alaska Airlines will show more care for their passengers' pets.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.