A diabetic man claims he was left stranded in Canada after an airline repeatedly refused to let him board his flight home with his service dog.
A man with diabetes has accused Aeroméxico of barring him from boarding his flight home alongside his lifesaving service dog.
Matias Rodriguez, a construction worker from Chile, relies on his five-year-old Great Dane, Logan, who is specially trained to detect dangerous fluctuations in his blood sugar levels.
According to Rodriguez, the duo had zero issues flying from Chile to Vancouver, Canada. But their journey back took a sharp turn when they showed up at the airport on Saturday, October 24.
Man Says Airline Refused to Accommodate His Service Dog
Rodriguez was reportedly told the flight was completely full and there simply wasn't enough room for Logan. Speaking to CTV News through his friend and translator, Vynka Contreras, he questioned why the airline cleared the dog for takeoff on leg one, only to turn him away on the return leg.
The nightmare allegedly dragged into the next day. "The next day, the same thing, all the flight is booked," Contreras recalled.
Rodriguez even offered to buy out an entire row of three seats just to fit his gentle giant, mirroring an accommodation he said was previously arranged. Still, the airline wouldn't budge.
Man Refuses to Travel Without His Great Dane
The standoff quickly took an emotional toll on both owner and canine. "He's very depressed, he's very stressed as well, and when he's stressed, obviously his animal is also stressed, right?" Contreras explained.
Rodriguez is urgently trying to get back to Chile to renew his expired Canadian temporary work status, but he has made one thing clear: he is not leaving Logan behind.
By October 27, Rodriguez was reportedly told he would have to fork over more than $3,000 for a business-class seat just to get home, with zero guarantee he would even be allowed on board. To make matters worse, that ticket would only get him to Mexico, leaving him stranded to coordinate a separate connection to Chile.
Aeroméxico's official policy notes that service animals may travel alongside handlers without added fees, though final boarding remains subject to space, weight, and safety limits.