Published 20 March 2023 at 09.28
Domestic. A woman who on two occasions could not travel with her assistance dog on the flight was discriminated against by the airline. That assessment is made by DO, which now requests that the company pay SEK 40,000 in discrimination compensation to the woman.
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As a result of a disability, the woman has an assistance dog and was asked in connection with booking the first flight to contact the company's customer service to book the dog in.
But the message from customer service was that the dog was not allowed in the cabin. In light of the announcement, the woman was forced to cancel the trip and rebook with another company at a higher cost. After the woman had reported the incident to DO, the company chose to compensate the woman with a gift card and also explained that the refusal had been a mistake.
But when the woman wanted to use the gift card, and re-book a trip, she was again unable take her assistance dog with her and the woman was again forced to cancel the trip.
According to an EU regulation, a recognized assistance dog must be prepared for a seat on the flight provided that the airline, its agent or the tour operator has been notified of this. DO considers that the woman has been disadvantaged by the company's actions and that it has therefore been a question of discrimination that is related to functional impairment.
The two events show, according to DO, that the airline has not taken reasonable measures for accessibility in that the staff obviously did not have sufficient knowledge of which dogs are classified as assistance dogs. Nor have they had knowledge of how these should be booked into the system.
DO now requests that the airline pay SEK 40,000 in discrimination compensation to the woman. If the company refuses to pay the compensation, DO will file an action in the district court.