Three Florida residents removed Friday from a JetBlue flight in Portland in a dispute over a dog carrier are now scheduled to fly home Sunday.

Tony Carrao, his wife, Victoria Torres, and their friend Mayra Cuevas, all of Fort Myers, were removed from the plane at Portland International Jetport by two air marshals following a dispute with flight attendants when one of their two dog carriers did not fit under the seat. Carrao said the carrier, which contained his dog, Nena, had fit under the seat on their flight north to Portland.

Carrao said he was frustrated by what he views as an inconsistent policy by JetBlue and an excessive response to the situation. The three were told Friday they would not be refunded for their tickets. They were left without any way to get home Friday, while their luggage and dog leashes were flown to Florida.

A JetBlue spokesman said Saturday that the three had been refunded their money for the flight they didn’t take Friday.

Torres said Saturday the group is scheduled to fly out of Maine on Sunday on a JetBlue flight that they paid for at the same rate as the scheduled flight.

She said the entire experience has been a nightmare.

Their removal from the plane meant the three had to pay for hotel rooms for two nights at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Scarborough. They rented a car, bought new personal belongings since their luggage went to Fort Myers, and purchased new leashes and a smaller dog carrier.

She said she had expected JetBlue to be more accommodating given “all the inconvenience and trauma.”

A spokeswoman for the airline said Saturday night that in instances where JetBlue and customers can’t come to an agreement on pet carriers, it limits compensation to rescheduling a flight or refunding a customer’s money.

“In the event a carrier is found to not meet these requirements, or a customer is unwilling or unable to follow those requirements, our crewmembers may work to accommodate the customer on a future flight where they can, or refund the customer’s fare for that flight,” said Morgan Johnston, manager of corporate communications for JetBlue.

Copy the Story Link