American travelers bitterly regret having passed through Montreal-Trudeau airport last weekend and having booked a flight with Air Canada. After enduring hours-long queues, missing take-off or paying for canceled flights, tourists contacted by The duty swear never to set foot there again.
“Our experience at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport was just terrible,” says Rebecca Berger, an American tourist from New York. Two weeks ago, she and her husband left for Europe for their honeymoon. On the return, scheduled for this weekend, the two lovebirds were to travel from Rome to New York with a stopover in Montreal, thanks to Air Canada.
“When we landed in Montreal, we had an hour left to connect to La Guardia airport, because our first plane was late,” said Ms.me Shepherd.
“When we got off the plane, we were told to go through security and customs. We arrived in a room that was full of people. Someone who worked for Air Canada told us that we had to wait there until our names appeared on a giant screen before we were allowed to pass. There were all these passenger names displayed on the screen, in yellow. And we had to wait for them to go green,” explains Mme Shepherd.
thousands of dollars
“This room could probably hold about fifty people, except that we were easily a hundred, stuck on top of each other,” she says.
She panicked when she noticed that the order in which the names were displayed didn’t seem to match the priority of the flights.
It was only fifteen minutes before their plane took off that the name of Mr.me Berger appeared on screen. He snuck in alone, hoping he could hold the plane long enough for his wife to get by too—but he never did. “We both missed the plane in the end, and it’s not even our fault,” she laments, still filled with incomprehension about the triage process.
“I didn’t know what to do anymore and nobody wanted to help me. I was on the verge of tears,” she said.
When questioned on the subject, Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) referred us to the United States Customs and Border Protection, which referred us to the Canada Border Services Agency, which was not in able to answer our questions on Tuesday.
“Some waited there for several hours. There was no water, no way to go to the toilet. There is even a woman who felt unwell, ”explains Mme Shepherd, shocked.
“Not to mention the fact that when I went to collect my luggage, it looked like a graveyard of suitcases. There were also animals that were left alone in cages. It broke my heart,” she says.
Rebecca Berger and her spouse finally booked a new plane with Air Canada for the next day, in the evening, on their own. But this plane never took off, despite four hours of waiting inside, due to a lack of available personnel, according to what was explained to them.
Exhausted, the couple finally booked a car to return to New York and carpooled with other travelers in the same situation. A misadventure that cost him more than 1,700 US dollars in transport and hotel, not to mention the costs for the canceled flight, costs which will however be reimbursed to him.
“I do not use these words lightly: Air Canada and its personnel at YUL airport are inhumane. I am disgusted and will never give them another cent again,” M wrote.me Berger on Twitter following his adventures.
Limited food services
Kristen, another American tourist, originally from Minnesota, also complained about a bad experience. The latter came on vacation for a few days in Quebec with her spouse to visit Montreal and the capital. A trip she enjoyed, but unfortunately ended badly.
Arrived in the middle of the afternoon last Saturday at the Montreal airport to take their evening plane to Minneapolis, she and her spouse waited several hours before learning a little before midnight that their flight was canceled due to of a lack of staff.
“Fortunately, we were able to eat. Which was not the case for everyone. At 6:30 p.m., we ate the last burgers from Hurley’s Irish Pub. After that, there were no more, and all the businesses were closed after 7 p.m. »
Seeing that no flights were available for two days to get home, Kristen finally decided to book a bus across the US border, and then took two flights within the US. “What was supposed to be a direct 2-hour flight turned into a 32-hour misadventure, costing us $1,400. »
“We will never fly with Air Canada again and we will not recommend anyone to do so,” explains Kristen, still bitter from her experience.
In response to questions from To have to on the cases of these tourists, Air Canada replied that its customer service “will contact the customers in question”.
For several weeks, the Montreal airport has been experiencing significant challenges with the resumption of travel in the aftermath of the pandemic – just like Pearson airport, in Toronto, where travelers must also endure long waiting hours. and deal with cancellations.
Asked to react to the logistical problems at the Montreal airport, ADM spokesperson Eric Forest replied that “airlines are responsible for managing their flights, delays and cancellations”.
“ADM is monitoring the situation on a daily basis with its various partners,” he explains. We know that every effort is being made by them to minimize the impact for passengers, in the current circumstances. »