Delta Passenger ‘Livid’ After Airline Gives Their Seat To Dog

A Delta Air Lines passenger is furious after the airline allegedly forced them to give up their seat to a dog on a recent flight.

The traveler aired their complaints Delta subreddit on Saturday, Dec. 21, calling the company’s decision to downgrade them an “absolute joke” — sparking an outpouring of both criticism and support.

“I was upgraded to first this morning, only to be downgraded (to a (worse) seat than I previously had) 15 minutes later,” the passenger captioned the post, titled “Just Got Downgraded for a Dog.”

“I asked the desk agent what was going on and she said ‘Something changed,'” they continued.

The passenger recalled that their first reaction was, “Okay, fine, I’m unhappy, but whatever” — that is, until they saw who was given their previous seat on the plane.

“I board only to see this dog in my first class seat … And now I’m mad,” the traveler wrote.

They also shared a photo of the puppy that was placed on their former seat, revealing that it was a large dog that appeared to be a service animal for the passenger next to them.

The disgruntled traveler said they “immediately” tried to speak with Delta support but did not receive the response they wanted. The support staff told them, “You can be moved to service animals,” or in other words, “there’s nothing they can do.”

“There is no way that dog has spent as much with this airline as I have… What an absolute joke. ,” the passenger wrote, before going on to question why they support the company.

“What’s the point of being loyal to this airline anymore, really,” they said. “I’ve sat back when others complained that this airline has been mistreating customers lately and declining in service, but I’m also starting to question my loyalty. .”

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Other Reddit users had a mixed response to the passenger’s story, some empathetic and relating to the treatment they experienced, while others told them to simply suck it up.

“This stupid thing about taking your dog everywhere you go is getting out of hand,” read one top comment. “And don’t even go there with ‘it’s a service animal’. Stay home or drive if you need your pet so badly.”

“Not sure if you know this, but you can’t drive everywhere,” one user pushed back in response to the comment, while another asked why “people with legitimate ADA disabilities” and their service “should be penalized for the behavior of other.”

And directing their attention to the original poster (OP), the response added: “And no offense OP, you expect Delta to run the risk of violating the ADA and being sued for … checking notes … because you used multiple money than the dog?”

Others responded by questioning the legitimacy of the dog’s service animal status based on the attached photo, while others simply said the pup has “been a good boy.”

“I’d give him your seat too,” one comment read simply, while another person offered a facetious explanation: “Dog gets 7 miles for every human mile.”

Delta Air Lines did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.