Disabled American Veteran Stranded By American Airlines Over Service Dog?

Service Dog of the Year and retired Marine stranded in Los Angeles by American Airlines 
Free Beacon
Stephen Gutowski
September 22, 2015

The decision to deny the Haags and Axel service on the flight left them stranded in Los Angeles for the night.

A retired Marine and his service dog were denied a seat on an American Airlines flight the same day they had been honored with the Service Dog of the Year award.

Jason Haag, his wife, and his dog Axel were returning from the American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards where Axel had been honored as the Service Dog of the Year on Sunday when American Airlines employees at Los Angeles International Airport refused to allow them to board a plane to Reagan National Airport.

The airline employees did not believe that Axel was a service dog though Haag provided an animal identification card. Axel was also wearing a harness identifying him as a service dog.

The denial appears to be in violation of American Airlines policy, which requires only one of those forms of identification to allow a service dog on one of their flights.

The denial came as a complete surprise to Haag. “We got to LAX and everything was fine,” he told the Washington Free Beacon. “I checked into the ticket counter with Axel with no problems at all. They knew he was a service dog. Didn’t have any problems. We were issued our ticket. We got through security and checked our bags. We ate lunch and then went and sat down right at our gate.”

“We were there probably an hour and a half before we were supposed to board.”

Haag said he and Axel, who was wearing his service harness, were within full view of the employees at the ticket counter while they waited for their flight to arrive.

“Then about five minutes before we were supposed to board I got pulled out of line,” he said. “[The agent] called me up to the ticket counter and the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘Is that a real service dog?'”

Haag said the airline did not remove their luggage from the flight, so they were left with just the clothes on their back, which would constitute a significant security violation, as checked bags are typically matched with passengers as a preventative measure against terrorist attacks.

American Airlines did not offer to put them in a hotel for the night or provide any other support.

Haag said he hoped his ordeal might lead to action in forming a national registry for service dogs so no other veterans have to go through the same thing. “Service dogs are not going to go away,” he said.
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