We’ve posted a lot of stories of people with service dogs being denied access to stores, restaurants, and airplanes, but this one might take the cake. On Sunday, Jason Haag—a Marine Corps veteran who suffers from PTSD—was trying to board an American Airlines flights from Los Angeles to his home in Virginia, along with his wife and his service dog, Axel. But the gate agent had a real problem:
“The first thing this guy asked me is, ‘Is that a real service dog?'” Haag told ABC News. “I just find that question kind of odd because nobody at the airport has asked me that and I fly all the time. I said, ‘Yes.'”
Haag said the gate agent then asked the veteran what his disability was, how the dog assisted him and whether he had paperwork. When Haag didn’t provide the paperwork and instead showed the agent an ID, the agent said Haag was noncompliant and that the ID was fake, Haag said.
Here’s the most astonishing part of this story: The reason that haag and Axel were in Los Angeles was because Axel had been named Service Dog of the Year at the 2015 American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards ceremony the night before!
The airline has apologized, but Haag says that it isn’t enough and wants to do more to keep such situations from happening again.
Click here for the full story.
Well ladies and gentlemen we have been denied access and not been allowed to board our plane by American Airlines due to…
Posted by Jason and Axel on Sunday, September 20, 2015
Haag and Axel want to do more to help those with service animals.
Photo via facebook
American Airlines just keeps screwing up on this issue. Don’t they have training sessions? Don’t they send out memos? Frankly, I won’t fly them because of their crappy seats, but this has ASSURED I’ll find another airline when I need to travel