'They lost our dog?!' Hawaiian Airlines flies dog to wrong city
"Jello is now home. He's with everybody else. He's with the family and everything is fine. You know, it's a story with a very happy ending, and we're very grateful for that," said Jello's owner, Claudia Rapkoch.
HONOLULU (KHON) -- Hawaiian Airlines is investigating how a local family's dog wound up hundreds of miles from its intended destination last week.
Kapahulu resident Claudia Rapkoch dropped off her 7-year-old English Bulldog, Jello, at Hawaiian Airlines on July 19 to be flown to the West Coast. Her husband was waiting in Seattle to pick up Jello and drive him to their home in Butte, Montana.
"Their breed is such they're not supposed to fly, and most airlines don't fly them. So, we're kind of grateful that a few do, but he can really only fly over the water," Rapkoch said.
Claudia's son and cat were also on the flight, and her husband later texted her to say they had both arrived safely in Seattle.
"And yet there was no Jello, and so at some point, we're like, 'They lost our dog?!' Everybody else arrived except for Jello and even the paperwork had Jello on the plane," Rapkoch said, "and you see it on his crate, 'Seattle.'"
Jello was put in a boarding facility in San Diego for a couple of days as Hawaiian Airlines contacted Island Pet Movers to drive Jello from California to Montana on Monday.
"We scooped up a rental car, drove him up to Montana and he was delivered this morning at about 5:30 in the morning," said Island Pet Movers owner Kari Mendoza.
Mendoza said her company has moved over 50,000 pets in their 15 years in business and a situation like this -- where an airline needs assistance transporting an animal that was sent to the wrong destination -- has only happened three other times.
"It's definitely not as common as your bags going to the wrong place," Mendoza said.
Hawaiian Airlines said in a statement:
“Once Jello deplaned in San Diego, our ground staff cared for him while we contacted the pet’s owner, with whom we arranged boarding accommodations over the weekend before Jello could be driven to Montana. Our teams take great care to transport all animals safely and comfortably and we apologize to Jello’s family for this event, which we are investigating.”
Hawaiian Airlines
Rapkoch said she is happy and grateful for the airline's response, which included an $820 refund for the initial cost to fly Jello to Seattle even though her dog was flown to the wrong city.
"Jello is now home. He's with everybody else. He's with the family and everything is fine. You know, it's a story with a very happy ending, and we're very grateful for that," Rapkoch said.