Air Canada’s cancellation of several flights due to the strike by its unionized flight attendants has thrown a wrench in the summer travel plans of thousands of air passengers across the country.
Cory Bolton, who lives in the Nisga’a village of Gitwinksihlkw about 100km northwest of Terrace, travelled to Toronto with his daughter for a vacation on Aug. 7th.
“We toured around Toronto. We went to Ripley’s, the CN Tower, and then we went to Niagara Falls as well,” he said.
The two were meant to fly back to YVR airport to catch a flight to Terrace on Aug. 15th.
“My flight was scheduled for 9:30 p.m. And I got the text at about 10:50 in the morning saying my flights are cancelled.”
Bolton was able to get his flights rebooked through a travel agency, but not until Aug. 20th.
“I’m actually stuck here for an extra five days, and I’m pretty much stuck here on my own expense. I have to pay for all the hotels and the meals myself.”
Bolton had mixed feelings about the flight attendants’ strike action, which is soon expected to come to an end after Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu ordered the airline and union into binding arbitration.
“If I was in their shoes and I wasn’t getting paid enough, I think I probably would be the same way,” he said.
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“But I was also lost and I didn’t know what to do, so it’s kind of put me in a hard position.”
Vancouver resident Abhi Nab Nair was booked on Aug. 15th to fly to India via Singapore to attend a cousin’s wedding.
Air Canada cancelled his flight the same day he was supposed to fly out.
“An hour later, Air Canada sent another email saying, ‘oh, we tried our best to find another alternative path through 120 other airlines and we found nothing. Sorry to that,’” he said.
Nair ended up finding another flight path to get to his destination, which involves stops in Dallas and Qatar.
“I had to shell out $2,000 out-of-pocket to get to where I need to be.”
Nair says he has had great experiences on Air Canada flights but compares dealing with the bureaucracy of the airline to a nightmare.
“Forcing customers to deal with generic emails and [providing] no actual support, knowing that this is coming down the pipeline, is really frustrating. It just adds up to the other traumas Air Canada has inflicted upon me throughout the years.”
John Gradek, a supply networks and aviation professor at McGill University, believes aviation rules are leaving passengers on the hook for costs.
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“The regulations seem to have a little bit of a loophole in there that Air Canada can stop looking [for alternative flights] if the price gets too high. And I think that’s what’s happening,” he said.
He also believes other airlines are taking advantage of the strike by jacking up the cost of flights.
“I saw fares this week: Flair at $1,000. I saw Porter at $1500. And I saw WestJet at $1800 one-way travelling on Monday out of Vancouver going to Toronto. I had to do a double take. I nearly had a heart attack just watching those fares. I couldn’t believe it.”
In a statement shared Aug. 16th, Air Canada says its flight operations remain suspended pending the outcome of a Canada Industrial Relations Board process to examine Minister Hajdu’s binding arbitration order.
“Customers whose flights are cancelled are being notified of the cancellations and offered options that include a full refund, a future travel credit or rebooking on another airline,” reads the statement.
“Those whose flights are cancelled are strongly advised not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking on a flight by another carrier.”
Air Canada says rolling flight cancellations will now extend to the afternoon of Aug. 17th. It’s not clear when Air Canada flights will once again take to the skies, but Minister Hajdu previously said it could take between 5-10 days for regular services to resume.