Diabetic Man Left Stranded After Airline Refuses to Let His Great Dane Service Dog Board — Despite Being Told to Buy a $3,000 Ticket

A diabetic traveler says he has been left stranded in Canada after Aeroméxico repeatedly refused to let him board a flight home with his Great Dane service dog, despite the animal having accompanied him on the journey to Vancouver.

Matias Rodriguez, a construction worker from Chile, relies on his five-year-old Great Dane, Logan, to alert him when his blood sugar levels become dangerously high or low. The dog is trained to recognize potential medical emergencies and warn his owner before the situation becomes ᑕriᩚtiᩚcal.

Rodriguez had traveled from Chile to Vancouver with Logan without any reported problems. But when he tried to make the return journey on October 24, he says airline staff told him there was not enough room for the dog on the aircraft.

The explanation left him confused, particularly because Logan had already completed the outbound journey with him.

“He flew back here with no problem, so why does it make any issue flying back home? I don’t understand why,” Rodriguez said through his friend and translator, Vynka Contreras.

According to Contreras, the airline rebooked Rodriguez for the following day, but the same problem reportedly happened again. Staff allegedly told him that the flight was full and could not accommodate Logan.

Rodriguez even offered to pay for three seats together to make additional room for his unusually large service dog. However, the proposed arrangement did not resolve the dispute.

The situation became more frustrating when he was reportedly advised to purchase a business-class ticket costing more than $3,000. Even after paying for the expensive upgrade, he was allegedly warned that there was still no guarantee Logan would be allowed on board.

The ticket would also take him only as far as Mexico, meaning he would still need to arrange another flight to reach Chile.

Rodriguez wants to return home partly because his temporary Canadian work status has expired and he needs to travel back to Chile to reapply. But he has made clear that leaving Logan behind is not an option.

Contreras said the repeated delays have taken an emotional toll on both the man and his dog.

“He’s very depressed, he’s very stressed as well, and when he’s stressed, obviously his animal is also stressed, right?” she said.

She has also appealed publicly for Aeroméxico to resolve the situation, saying she contacted the airline and shared the details but had not received a satisfactory response.

The dispute has drawn attention to the challenges faced by passengers who depend on medical service animals, particularly when those animals are much larger than typical household dogs.

Aeroméxico’s published guidance says service and emotional-support animals may travel with their owners without an additional charge, although acceptance is subject to the animal’s size. The airline’s policy and the specific circumstances of Rodriguez’s flights have become central to the disagreement.

A report published after the initial incident said Rodriguez had purchased a first-class ticket for another attempt to travel on October 31. It was not clear from the available reporting whether he and Logan ultimately completed their journey.

Aeroméxico had not publicly responded to requests for comment cited in the reports.

For Rodriguez, the issue is about more than finding space for a large dog on an aircraft. Logan is trained to help protect him from potentially dangerous changes in blood sugar, making the animal an essential part of his daily life and safety.

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