For Emily Ramos, a Toronto teacher travelling with her husband and two children, a long-planned summer trip to Nova Scotia has turned into a nightmare of cancellations, skyrocketing costs, and unanswered calls.
She is not alone. Already, CTV News Toronto has heard from more than 100 Air Canada customers Saturday morning, including families stuck abroad, passengers stranded at airports and travellers left on hold for hours.
Many say they remain in limbo, citing that their flights have not yet been cancelled, leaving them unable to claim refunds or rebook elsewhere.
The strike by Air Canada’s flight attendants — which began at 12:58 a.m. ET Saturday — suspended all operations by Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, disrupting an estimated 130,000 passengers each day.
Still, hundreds have gathered at airports across the country to picket and raise awareness for workers’ rights, even as the federal labour minister ordered binding arbitration and urged flight attendants back to work this afternoon.
‘Our Canadian airline is now abandoning us’
Ramos says her family’s six-day vacation could now come at a loss of thousands of dollars. They’ve booked non-refundable hotels in Nova Scotia but are unable to confirm if their Monday morning flight will depart.
“The one airline that is … our Canadian airline is now abandoning us and it really is frustrating,” Ramos said.
“We’re looking at either losing all non-refundable hotel money to the tune of $2,000 or $3,000 and not going on the trip, or spending $5,000 or $6,000 to get ourselves there and hoping to figure out the way back later.”
With children aged eight and 13, she says flexibility isn’t an option.
“We try to do one family vacation every year, and this is it,” Ramos said.
Her frustration goes beyond her own disrupted trip.
“I’m super disappointed in them as a company.” she said. “Air Canada is usually the most reliable up until this point … there aren’t as many airlines that we can rely on.”
- READ MORE: What should passengers do about travel bookings if Air Canada strikes? Here’s what experts say
Other passengers voiced similar concerns.
A traveller returning from the Czech Republic said they received notice their flight was cancelled, but Air Canada could not rebook them within 48 hours.
“They urged me to accept the refund, or call them if my travel is flexible. I tried calling, but it’s impossible to get through so now I’m stuck in limbo,” the passenger said.
‘Extremely disappointed’
Some travellers say they have lost confidence in the airline altogether.
Anat Baron, a Canadian traveller scheduled to fly home to Los Angeles on Sunday, said she has received no updates about whether her flight will operate. Despite the strike, she says she was still able to check in through the Air Canada app.
“I’m extremely frustrated. I have been on the app non-stop,” Baron said. “Why am I able to check into my flight right now when my plane is clearly not going? They have the technology. They have the know-how … what are they doing?”
Baron said her recent experiences with the airline have been riddled with cancellations, delays and lost luggage in years past.
“I think the mark of any great company that’s in the service business is, what do you do when things go wrong — and they fail every single time,” she said. “Air Canada does not make you feel like they care about their passengers. Period.”
Ramos and Baron are among the hundreds of Air Canada customers who reached out to CTVNews.ca to share their travel woes.
Some are stuck in parts of the world and are now scrambling to get back home. From Paris to Sydney, travellers say the airline is not helping them with their bookings that have been cancelled.
Jason Byrne’s wife and daughters were supposed to fly back home from Cuba on Saturday. Byrne told CP24 that their flight was cancelled 12 hours before departure.
He said Air Canada informed the family that it can’t find flights to rebook them on.
“What are we supposed to do? We have to find accommodations, food. We have to get some money down so they can pay for everything,” Byrne said.
When he looked at other airlines, the prices were steep. Byrne said his biggest concern is when his wife and daughters will be able to come back.
“Even trying to call them, they just hang up on you. They say they’re too busy and hang up. There’s just absolutely no communication. Everybody’s kind of in limbo,” he said.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to get them back before school starts.”
Air Canada’s response
In a statement issued Saturday, Air Canada urged passengers not to head to the airport unless they already had a confirmed ticket on another airline.
“Air Canada will notify customers with imminent travel of additional cancelled flights and their options,” the airline said. “For those customers due to travel soon whose flights are not yet cancelled, Air Canada has put in place a goodwill policy to allow them to rebook their travel or obtain a credit for future travel.”
The airline also says it offers its sincere regret for the impact the strike has had on customers.
“Air Canada deeply regrets the effect the labour disruption is having on customers.”
Share your story with us
Has your Air Canada flight been cancelled? Are you stuck abroad waiting to get home? How has the strike disrupted your travel plans?
Share your story by emailing us at torontonews@bellmedia.ca with your name, general location, and phone number in case we want to follow up.
If you’re from outside Toronto, share your story by emailing us at dotcom@bellmedia.ca with your name, general location and phone number.
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