Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
An airline passenger who lost his air miles for using a slim stand-in cat to pose for his overweight 10-kilogramme moggy to beat weight restrictions has become a shareholder of the airline in a bid to change the rules.
Mikhail Galin, 34, managed to bypass Aeroflot’s rules and regulations to check his chubby cat into a business class flight earlier this month.
While travelling on the SU1702 flight from Moscow-Sheremetyevo International Airport to the city of Vladivostok in the south-eastern Russian region of Primorsky Krai, Galin reportedly used a cat double to pose as his beloved Victor.
Victor the cat weighs 10 kilogrammes (22 lbs) which is two kilogrammes over the permitted weight and Aeroflot staff wanted to put the chubby moggy in the hold where pets are usually kept during flights.
In the end, Galin felt that his pet would not survive eight hours in the chilly hold area and he missed the flight.
However, he reportedly returned to the airport two days later with a friend’s cat called Phoebe that posed as Victor at the check-in. After being weighed, the cats were switched and Victor joined Galin in business class for the flight to Vladivostok.
However, after Galin shared his story on social media, Aeroflot bosses were far from impressed and they conducted an investigation that concluded the passenger was guilty of several violations, including failing to check-in his cat, intentionally switching cats during the weighing and removing the cat from its box while on the plane.
As punishment, the cat owner was reportedly chucked off the company’s frequent-flyer programme. All the miles he had accrued were annulled and his account will be shut down.
But after the airport’s tough reaction was reported in local media, he was then contacted by financial services company Finam Holdings that offered him shares.
He said: “The offer to become a shareholder of Aeroflot was raised… and I decide to accept it.”
As a shareholder, he is entitled to have a say in the way the company conducts its business and said he plans to use that to push for change.
He added that he had not enjoyed the publicity, and neither had his cat, as it was very smothering, but he was hoping that there would be a beneficial change as a result.
He noted that there were “lots of archaic laws and regulations in our country that need to be improved”.
He added: “Lots of monopolistic companies in Russia are not interested in improving their services. For example, UTair (a Russian airline) increased their hand baggage max load to 10 kilogrammes (22 lbs). My cat would fit their 10-kilogramme limit.”
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