Cancellation of flights | ” I am really disappointed “

The cancellation of hundreds of flights at Canada’s major airports is testing the patience of vacationers as they rethink their travel plans.

Alice Girard-Bosse
The Press

Lila Dussault
The Press

Stéphane Prud’homme was about to return from a conference in New York when his Air Canada flight to Montreal, scheduled three hours later, was canceled. “I received a text telling me that the flight was cancelled. Nothing else, no information! he exclaims.

The traveler attempted to obtain more details, without success. “I called the Air Canada phone number. It lasted three hours, no response. My colleague waited two hours and it hung up on its own. We are left in the void. I’m an Air Canada fan, but here I’m really disappointed. »

The country’s largest carrier announced Wednesday evening that it would cut more than 15% of its flights in July and August, amid the country’s air network awash in an overwhelming upsurge in travel. More than 9,500 flights, mostly domestic or between Canada and the United States, will be canceled.

Having no answer, the businessman had to find a solution quickly to return to Montreal. “I tried to find a train, a bus and a rental car to go back to Montreal – everything is full. And all the hotels in New York are full, so I slept at the airport,” he says.

He finally booked a flight to Montreal with a stopover in Detroit with Delta. “I was lucky to have a flight on Thursday. My colleague only has a flight in two days,” he said.

Mr. Prud’homme finally arrived in Montreal on Thursday evening. “Of course I will file a complaint for the way they treated us. I want to get my money back,” he said. He is not the only one. Consumer rights advocates on Thursday demanded compensation from Air Canada for the hundreds of thousands of passengers whose summer flights are canceled.

Iconcern among travelers

Hélène Plumard and her family, who have a scheduled flight with Air Canada to Paris in less than two weeks, are monitoring the situation closely. “Of course they say international travel is not affected at this time, but I hear stories of endless waiting and delays before the flight,” she worries.

Several of his colleagues waited up to four hours to pass through security and had their flights delayed. “With two young children, spending seven hours at the airport is unimaginable,” says the woman who has not seen her relatives in France since March 2018.

The departure time of his flight has already been changed twice by the airline. “Why did you offer so many flights? Why not plan better? asks M.^me Plumard.

Inadequate baggage handling

At Montréal-Trudeau airport, flight cancellations add to the chaos in baggage management. Thursday night, a pile of suitcases and bags still litter the airport floor. “We knew there were problems with the luggage, so we decided to bring hand luggage only. There is luggage everywhere, everywhere, everywhere”, says Evelyne Nagot, met at the exit.

Chantale Marcoux and Claude Craighero opted for the same strategy. “We have hand luggage, we don’t take chances. We roll our clothes and we do the washing, ”says M^me Marcoux.

Bernadette Montpoint, who arrived from Geneva, Switzerland, was happy that she had no problems. “It went well, I got my luggage fairly quickly, but there’s a lot of luggage on the floor. It’s scattered here and there. I was really lucky. »