From a
FB post:
Greetings,
To follow up on the tweets from yesterday, my experience with Air Canada has been extremely frustrating.
I was on flight AC754 from SFO to YYZ scheduled to leave at 10:30pm. All the passengers were stuck on the plane for an hour, while the pilot went from telling us not to mind the strange noise to then having the flight cancelled due to technical issues with the plane. Then followed 3 hours in the lineup in the middle of the night, culminating in being told at 3am that Air Canada was only providing hotels to business class passengers, because there are not enough hotel rooms available. I was told I didn't need to wait in the lineup at all after all, because I'd simply get an email with my new flight. They also said they cannot provide any compensation or anything else except for a blanket for sleeping at the airport. My flight took 4 hours to get rebooked, because AC 754 didn't show up as cancelled in the system for a while. And the person in charge of hospitality with Air Canada was new, we were told, so we were all asked to stay calm.
I had my 8-month old son waiting for me at home and had to call family at 4am in the morning Toronto time to arrange for last minute babysitting. I then booked my own hotel (airport Marriott, nothing fancy).
The next day I flew out at 1pm (the replacement flight was delayed by 30 minutes too, but that seemed like a blessing). I was delayed by 15 hours leaving SF. After talking to an Air Canada rep before boarding about compensation for cancelled flight, I was first rudely told they can't do anything and then offered a $25 meal voucher as compensation (useless and kind of insulting).
Once I got home, I submitted all the info and receipts to the Air Canada customer service. I was told it takes them up to 20 business days to process a claim. It's been 40 business days now. They are telling me I'm in the queue, but they can't tell me when my claim will be processed.
Beyond being absolutely exhausted and stressed on the way home, I feel lucky I had the money (well, a credit card) to book a hotel and family support to take care of my baby. What I wonder is how would someone less fortunate navigate this situation with zero support from Air Canada?
So, to sum up: 15 hour delay (unacceptable) due to mechanical issue (airline at fault) and offered nothing but a blanket to sleep on the floor and a $25 meal voucher.
If she had been in the EU, this woman would've been entitled to food, hotel, and 600 euros in compensation. But because she's Canadian, she gets the runaround and an offer of a $25 meal voucher?
THIS is why people are angry. This is why we urgently need regulation. Airlines should not be allowed to get away with this.