EDMONTON - An Edmonton couple who caused a cyber stink for Alaska Airlines over their son's poopy diaper have claimed victory in their battle for compensation.
Late Monday night, newlyweds Dan Blais and Colleen Roberge posted to their "Alaska Airlines Hates Families" blog, saying they had been contacted by airline officials who apologized for the incident and offered the family $1,000.
"It goes to show that one employee's actions doesn't always represent the whole company and it seems Alaska Airlines didn't thouroughly understand exactly what happened at the gate that day," said Blais.
It all started when the couple were headed home from Las Vegas, where they'd been married on the Thanksgiving weekend.
Blais admitted they were not at the gate the required 40 minutes before boarding. But he said they were there more than 20 minutes ahead of the plane leaving when they realized Levi's diaper had blown out.
"We got through security on time," he said. "I think it was basically human error as far as looking at the clock and looking at the boarding pass and mixing up exactly what time we needed to get to the gate."
Blais checked in with the ticket agent while his wife was in the bathroom changing Levi. The agent gave him two minutes to get his wife and baby to the gate, but instead their seats were given away to people on standby.
The couple spent an extra night in Las Vegas and ended up buying tickets on a WestJet flight home the next day at a cost of more than $1,000.
Alaska Airlines initially offered $400 in vouchers but defended itself, saying that the company takes pride in meeting its schedule and making flights wait for late boarders would not be fair to other passengers.
"Our customers pay hard-earned money for their ticket and our fundamental promise in return is to get them to their destination safely and on time," read a statement by Elliott Pesut, the airline's social media manager.
But by Monday afternoon, the couples' blog had more than 15,000 hits. Hours later, the whole affair was over.
"I believe this issue can be put to rest," said Blais. "I started this blog as a way to vent my frustrations and feelings of hopelessness, and never expected this kind of attention.
"Thanks for all the support. And for those who believe we should have gotten nothing back and kicked to the curb, hopefully you never have to go through anything like this yourselves."
