TAP denied an autistic girl's service dog access to board aircraft

TAP AIR PORTUGAL AIRBUS A320-214 CS-TNX (MSN 2822)

A TAP Air Portugal flight from Rio de Janeiro (GIG /SBGL) to Lisbon (LIS/LPPT) flight was halted on the 24th of May 2025, after the airline refused to allow a 12-year-old girl with autism to board with her service dog, Tedy, despite a Brazilian court order authorizing the animal’s travel in the cabin. 

The Brazilian Federal Police intervened, grounding the flight when the crew denied boarding to the dog, even though all documentation was in order. TAP cited safety concerns, stating that the court order violated their flight operations manual, approved by Portuguese authorities. However, the airline offered to transport the dog in the cargo hold, which the guardian did not accept. This led to the flight's cancellation, and a TAP manager was charged with disobedience by Brazilian Federal Police. The child, who relies on the dog to manage anxiety and aggression, experienced a crisis upon learning Tedy could not travel.

The incident has sparked political and public criticism, with calls for clearer regulations and better training for airline staff regarding service animals. According to Folha do Leste, this dispute stemmed from a previous incident in April, when the same family attempted to travel to Portugal, and TAP also denied boarding to the emotional support animal without clear justification. As a result, the family sought legal action and successfully obtained a court order allowing the dog on board.

TAP replied with this statement:
"𝘛𝘈𝘗'𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸. 𝘋𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘈𝘗 𝘈𝘪𝘳 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬, 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘛𝘗74.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳.

𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦.
𝘛𝘈𝘗 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳."