Dan Crenshaw Puts United Airlines on Blast After 'Shocking' Dog Incident

Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, put United Airlines on blast, accusing an airport agent of grabbing his dog without consent and then accusing the agent's supervisor of threatening him in a "shocking" conversation.

Crenshaw took to social media on Saturday night to share his and his wife's experience with United. In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, Crenshaw explained that while his wife was on a trip to see him with their infant daughter, his mother-in-law and their two small dogs, they were told that their pets could not fly. Even after his wife opted to try to find another flight, the agent attempted to grab one of the dogs, Joey, out of the carrier, according to Crenshaw.

The congressman obtained security footage from the airport of the incident, which he put in the X video. "You're about to see a crazed, unhinged, United ticketing agent reach in and grab the dog, starting ripping things off of the dog's bag while my wife tries to stop them," the congressman said.

Crenshaw then claimed that although his wife and mother-in-law said they would find a different flight, "the United agent wanted to take our dog out of the bag. She wanted to get the dog, photograph him, and report my wife, so they can never fly again," which he said his wife refused to let happen.

United told Newsweek via email on Sunday: "We attempted to work with the Congressman to resolve his concerns amicably. We disagree with his characterization of what happened, and stand behind our employees who were upholding United's policies on in-cabin pets to ensure the safety of his dog."

Upon finding out about the incident, Crenshaw said he met with United's Vice President of Airport Operations Phillip Griffith. Crenshaw recalled what he told Griffith, which he recorded, "I want a video of what happened. I want to know what your regulations are with respect to customer interaction."

The congressman then played audio of Griffith's reported response, "I deal with people like you and your wife and customers like you every single day." Crenshaw wrote that the recording of the meeting was "shocking" in his X post.

Crenshaw said of the United executive in his video, "It's so obvious the contempt that that guy has for customers."

During the meeting, Griffith reportedly portrayed a different version of events than Crenshaw had explained.

While the congressman said that his wife was calm during the incident, Griffith reportedly told him in the meeting that his wife was "handsy" and "agitated." Meanwhile, Griffith "said that his agent was calm with her hands by her side," Crenshaw claimed in his video.

Then, Crenshaw asked to see the surveillance footage, which he said, "shows exactly what my wife said it would show." Crenshaw added: "Looks like United Airlines was lying."

Things ended up getting heated at the meeting, with Griffith reportedly saying at one point, "I'm gonna end this real quickly," according to the audio recording Crenshaw provided. Crenshaw asked Griffith if he was "threatening" him, to which Griffith reportedly said, "Don't play." After more back-and-forth, Griffith reportedly added: "This meeting is about to come to an end."

Crenshaw ended the video by asking, "Is it United's policy for your agents to just grab passenger's pets and property without their consent?"

Alongside the video, Crenshaw wrote in his X post, "Many of you have shared your stories of being mistreated by an airline agent on a power trip. It's time to start considering legislation that protects passengers. These airlines took tens of billions of dollars from taxpayers. United took $10.9 B and owes us better than this."

Former Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, reacted to Crenshaw's video in an X post on Sunday: "I'll be honest watching this made me angry. I once had an airline lobbyist tell me he overheard his CEO say 'congress can't touch us. We're untouchable.' The arrogance of the airlines and especially @united is stunning."

Update 1/21/24, 5:17 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from United Airlines.