Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Last week's technical issues at Air Canada caused delays and cancellations and left hundreds of Canadians stranded and frustrated.
Derrick Ash, a frequent Air Canada flyer, was one of the people affected by the issue. He was set to return home to Calgary, Alta. from Deer Lake, N.L. on Friday, June 2. However, Thursday's IT outage led to two of his morning flights being cancelled, layovers missed and a total of three days stranded without accommodations or compensation from the airline.
The AEROPLAN member said he "got lucky" and paid a local family out of pocket to host and feed him for a weekend.
"I don't really care about the money. It really is the principle. You left a customer out in the cold, and you really didn't give a crap," Ash told CTVNews.ca on Tuesday.
When Ash went to file for compensation on the airline's website using his booking reference number and ticket number, a daunting message appeared: no match found.
"It's ridiculous," said the avid traveller who has been flying with the airline since 1997.
The Canadian Press reported Friday the Montreal-based airline said initial responses denying compensations stemmed from an error.
"Air Canada is offering compensation in line with APPR (Air Passenger Protection Regulations) compensation levels for flights which were affected by the IT outage. Some passengers had received erroneous responses from us, and we are in the process of re-contacting them with the correct responses," spokeswoman Angela Mah told the Canadian Press.
Monique and Allan O'Donnell told CTVNews.ca in an email they went through four delayed flights and one cancellation before returning home from Barbados.
While stranded on the tropical island for two days, the couple received a meal voucher each for US$14 from an Air Canada customer service representative who said "it was enough," Monique told CTVNews.ca Thursday.
"We are beyond frustrated at this point. We should not have to go through the additional stress of fighting for compensation…after a couple days of hell."
The country's largest air carrier has struggled with intermittent computer problems over the past few weeks.
On May 25 it delayed more than half its flights due to a "technical issue" with the system that the airline uses to communicate with aircraft and monitor their performance.
According to tracking service FlightAware, on June 1 it delayed or cancelled more than 500 flights -- over three-quarters of its trips that day -- due to "IT issues." At least 144 of its flights, or 27 per cent of the airline's scheduled load, had been delayed as of late afternoon on June 2, along with 33 cancellations.
On June 1, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra stressed the carrier's compensation responsibilities to its guests.
"Air Canada has obligations to passengers who are impacted because it is caused by things that the airline has control over," he told reporters June 1, hours after the IT issues resurfaced.
Alghabra spokeswoman Nadine Ramadan said in an email Friday the minister's office had been in touch with the company, which assured them it will compensate the affected passengers.
Jesse Battista and his wife Tashae filed for compensation after her flight was three hours late to its final destination on June 1.
At first, the airline denied their compensation request and offered a 15 per cent fare discount on any upcoming flight as a "goodwill gesture."
By Friday afternoon, a week after the incident, the couple received a follow-up email from the Montreal-based airline apologizing for not giving them the “appropriate answer” and offering $400 in settlement.
Air Canada's Mah told The Canadian Press the airline would "investigate to determine the root cause of the cancellation and handle accordingly."
CTVNews.ca has reached out to Air Canada for comment and is still awaiting a response.
--With files from The Canadian Press
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.