My complaint:
On Thursday Oct 21st 2021, I was set to take a Ryanair flight from Barcelona, Spain to Heraklion, Crete and was denied access because of my service dog and the completely ignorant, discriminatory and shameful behaviour from the staff
When I initially checked in, even though there was a bit of confusion, they checked all his paperwork, took my luggage and sent me to the gate.
This is where things went terribly wrong.
Even though I had already booked his seat the same day I made my booking, had all of the appropriate documentation [ service dog IDs , vaccination records, certificate of intensive psychiatric service training, public access letter from the ADA] , and approved at check in ….. they still denied me access to the flight at the gate.
The woman working at the gate said that Ryanair only allows people with blindness or physical disability to bring service dogs on flights. She looked me up and down with a judgmental gaze, and said, “you look fine”
I was mortified, embarrassed and truly disappointed that in this day and age someone could say something like that to someone, completely belittling and dismissing them
I replied, “not all disabilities are visible”
To which she replied :
“Are you sick?! Can you even fly ?!”
She sent pictures of my documents to her superior, and they denied me access as well.
I broke down, cried, had an anxious episode and was truly shocked and appalled.
Having an entire staff of 10 people watching me during what felt like an interrogation after everyone else had boarded the flight was so absolutely embarrassing, belittling and stressful
In this current climate where mental health is at the forefront of concern and conversation, this is unacceptable behaviour
I had to go back down to get my luggage and speak to the Ryanair customer service team
When I told the agent, Alexandra, what happened, and showed her all of the documents she was confused .
She asked me if I had shown all of this upon check In And at the gate, and when I said yes she replied “this has been a big misunderstanding “
She rebooked my flight for the following Monday, Oct 25th and said I should have no problems flying
Monday came around, and as soon as I stepped into the check in line up I was confronted with more ignorance and resistance
The first man said dogs aren’t allowed on flights, I told him he was a service dog and he called over another woman who very rudely pointed to her eyes and said, service dogs are only for the blind.
I left the line and went over to the Ryanair desk, told the agent the situation and shared with him that Alexandra had left notes on my booking
He read them, spoke with someone on the phone and said I could in fact fly which was a relief but…….
….The amount of emotional and psychological distress, anxiety, inconvenience and additional costs plus the absolutely disgusting and ignorant disability discrimination needs to be rectified.
No one should have to go through what I went through. This lack of training , education and an understanding of human rights is appalling
Suggested solution:
I should absolutely get my money back for the flight and be compensated for the emotional and psychological distress
I will be speaking with my legal council while Ryanair decides the best way to rectify and compensate me for this appalling and unacceptable situation
