Amanda Bailey, a 26-year-old single mother of four-month-old twins, said she felt “hopeless” after being told by Flair Airlines she could fly on her own with her kids, then discovering just days before their flight this was against the rules.
It was going to be her first flight with her kids, Ezra and Evangeline, and she wanted to make sure she did her due diligence to ensure their travel day would go as smoothly as possible. The family of three was going to fly from Toronto to Saint John N.B. to visit Bailey’s mother.
Bailey told CTV News Toronto she called Flair Airlines with a variety of questions about car seats and strollers. She also asked for assistance on booking their flight since she was having trouble doing so online.
“I was just assuming that they weren’t allowing me to do the infants online because they were trying to register them as on the lap, which I didn’t want to do,” she said. “I wanted to purchase a seat so we could have the whole row, didn’t have to bother anybody and kind of go about our business.”
When she was on the phone with Flair, Bailey said she told them her children’s ages and they checked with their supervisors to ensure that it as okay – “on multiple occasions,” she added.
“So they booked it,” Bailey said.
The trip was booked weeks in advance, with their flight originally scheduled to leave Toronto Pearson International Airport just before 7 a.m. on June 22.
Two days before her flight, with bags all packed and car seats in tow, Bailey found out through an online group that she might not be able to travel with her two infants on her own.
After commenting about her upcoming travel plans, Bailey said another mother told her she couldn’t fly with her kids.
“‘You’re twins are four months old. You’re not allowed to fly with them by yourself,’” Bailey recalled reading. “I’m like, ‘Well, yes I can. I confirmed it multiple times, multiple different occasions, and I can.’ Then she sent me the screenshots from the Government of Canada website.”
Under Canadian Aviation Regulations, no passenger can be responsible for more than one infant who is under the age of two.
“If you are travelling with children under the age of 2, a passenger must accompany each of your children, even if you buy seats for them,” Travel Canada’s website reads.
A spokesperson for Transport Canada confirmed to CTV News Toronto via email that this requirement is “based on assistance required during an emergency or an evacuation,” like, for example, when fliers need to put on an oxygen mask on the flight.
“Failure to comply with this important safety requirement could result in denial of boarding,” press secretary for Transport Canada, Nadine Ramadan, said in an emailed statement.
When Bailey tried to confirm this with Flair Airlines, the company reiterated that she was, in fact, allowed to travel with her two infants.
“This is also to confirm that there will be no problem at all in taking the flights,” the email from FlairAir Reservations, reviewed by CTV News Toronto, reads.
“Why was I told [that I could]?” Bailey said, adding she cancelled her Flair flight after feeling "uneasy" with her back and forth with the airline.
‘I WAS CRUSHED’
“Everything was packed and ready to go. I was just crushed, like that’s just what you feel. You feel hopeless,” Bailey said. “I was really down for the next two days because I’m like, ‘Great, I’m a single mom. For the next two years, this is what it’s going to be like?’”
A spokesperson for Flair Airlines told CTV News Toronto they are sorry for what happened with Bailey.
“A customer service agent gave erroneous and conflicting information to Amanda, and we regret that,” the emailed statement reads. “To remedy this, our CEO has reached out directly to Amanda to apologize, and we refunded her in full… Additionally, we have offered for a companion to fly with her, and the twins, all free of charge.”
Bailey rebooked her trip in mid-July with Air Canada, as a family friend is flying out to Saint John at that time.
She said she initially faced some roadblocks booking one of her kids to go on her travel companion’s lap, due to third-party booking.
But Bailey adds now, “things are looking up,” with their flight scheduled to depart Toronto Pearson on July 12, and her two kids able to sit on a lap on the way.
While Bailey says she agrees everyone’s safety is important, she thinks change is still needed to remedy the double standard that a single parent can fly alone with a two-year-old but can't with an infant.
“An infant is controlled by their parents, so their parent is the one that is going to be getting them off the plane in a timely manner […] When it comes to my twins being two, I probably will drive over flying by myself because they’re hard to manage – a lot harder to manage than a baby that is reliant on their parent to get them off the plane.”
In the future, Bailey advises other single parents to look over the travel rules and regulations before they fly with their little ones.
“I would really hate for another parent to have to go through all of this, and then wind up in my situation.”
