Delta prioritized cats over her husband's severe allergies, wife claims

ATLANTA — A family has advice for travelers with severe allergies after they say cats on a Delta Airlines flight forced them to change their plans.

Channel 2's Wendy Corona spoke with Jackie Reckline, whose family had first class tickets on a flight to Oklahoma City when a woman boarded with her two cats.

Reckline said that her husband, Lewis, is severely allergic and they alerted a flight attendant.

"At the moment, it wasn't taken seriously with any regard," Reckline said. "The flight crew was going above and beyond to accommodate the cats and not accomodate a human condition."

The Recklines were only on board for about six minutes when Lewis' eyes began to water and his throat became scratchy.

"If we were together in the air for three hours, he would certainly go into anaphylactic shock," Jackie Reckline said.

Lewis Reckline had to split from his family and stay overnight to catch a flight.

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Channel 2 Action News received the following statement from Delta:

"The comfort and safety of every customer who flies Delta is our top priority and we work hard to ensure those with allergies are well taken care of. We have reached out directly to this customer to better understand his and his family’s experience and apologize for the inconvenience this situation may have caused.” 

The family admits it didn't follow proper procedure, but want others with allergies to know what to do before a flight.

"There is only one little area when you’re booking your flights for you to note if you have any special considerations. It’s that little bar that says special requests," Jackie Reckline said.

Customers can also call ahead of their flights to make certain no one is put in danger.

Cox Media Group