Four travellers in B.C. said Air Canada cancellations linked to an FAA ground stop left them paying for accommodations and rebooking difficulties.
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Several British Columbians said they were forced to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket after Air Canada cancelled about 250 flights on Friday, affecting roughly 27,000 passengers, following an FAA-ordered ground stop issued due to communications problems at regional air traffic control centres.
The travellers, Patricia Arndt, Corey Shack, Nancy Kristoff and Lisa Dolinski, were in Cancun, Mexico, celebrating a 50th birthday when their return flight was cancelled. Arndt said in an interview, “You just feel lost,” and added, “You’re going to have to figure it out yourself.”
The Federal Aviation Administration issued the ground stop on Friday afternoon after officials said there were communications problems at regional air traffic control centres connected to a maintenance issue. Air Canada said it cancelled roughly 250 flights after the order, and Vancouver International Airport (YVR) reported 54 flight cancellations on Friday and another 23 related cancellations Saturday morning in an email.
Arndt said the group’s return flight experienced a two-hour delay and a gate change before the cancellation text arrived. She said she was told they would receive an update about rebooking within 30 minutes, but no update came. Kristoff said, “That was the most frustrating part, because other airlines were communicating with their customers and we were getting zero communication,” and described spending out of pocket to arrange alternative travel and stays.
Dolinski said she began trying to get help early Saturday at Cancun International Airport because she said Air Canada’s online platforms were not allowing her to book alternate flights home. She said Air Canada’s phone line had only one agent available and that it took about three hours before she could book an alternate flight home on Wednesday.
McKenzie McMillan, managing partner at Travel Group in Vancouver, said the cancellations were unusual in scale, calling them “a dramatic situation that unfolded yesterday for tens of thousands of passengers.” He said airlines are not expected to cover additional costs when cancellations are caused by issues outside airlines’ control, and he pointed to Canadian Transportation Agency guidance indicating compensation and minimum assistance requirements do not apply in those circumstances when the reasons are outside the airline’s control.
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