United put another family's pet dog on the wrong flight forcing the airline to divert the plane (UAL)

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• On Thursday, United Airlines diverted a flight after realizing a dog was incorrectly placed on it.

• The flight was flying over Columbus, Ohio when it diverted to Akron-Canton Regional Airport to deliver the dog to its owners.

• It marked the airline's third dog-related mishap within a week after a dog died in the overhead bin of a flight on Monday and another was mistakenly flown to Japan instead of Kansas City on Tuesday.

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United Airlines diverted a flight on Thursday after realizing a dog on the plane was supposed to be on a different flight.

It marked the airline's third dog-related mishap of the week, after a dog died in the overhead bin of a flight on Monday and another was mistakenly flown to Japan instead of Kansas City on Tuesday.

United Express flight 3996 was traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to St. Louis when the airline realized the mistake, which reportedly happened due to a gate change, according to The Points Guy. While over Columbus, Ohio, it diverted the flight to Akron-Canton Regional Airport to deliver the dog to its owners. The flight landed in St. Louis over two hours after its expected arrival, The Points Guy reports.

A United spokesperson told Business Insider that the airline diverted the flight "because it was the fast option to reunite the dog with his family." The spokesperson said the dog was "safely delivered to its owners" and passengers on the diverted flight were "provided compensation" for the delay, though the airline did not describe what the compensation entailed. 

The incident was the latest in a long string of customer service controversies United has caused in recent years. The airline was recently ranked ninth of out America's 11 major commercial airlines in Consumer Reports' customer satisfaction survey, where it received a score of 67 out of 100, 18 points behind the top-ranked airline, Southwest.

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