Montreal passengers face uncertainty as Air Canada strike looms

As Air Canada flight cancellations are piling up and for many passengers, the uncertainty is growing.

Around 10,000 flight attendants are preparing to walk off the job around 1 a.m. Saturday. By the end of Friday, Air Canada expects to cancel around 500 flights.

Passenger Robyn Flynn was trying to get home to Montreal from Newfoundland. After multiple delays, her flight was not cancelled, but the experience left her frustrated.

“I got a notification [saying] your flight has been delayed by an hour and 20 minutes, and then another notification, another hour and 20 minutes,” said Flynn.

She says if her flight did get cancelled, she would have been “trapped.” She says finding a way out of Newfoundland on short notice would have been extremely challenging.

“It’s chaotic right now for all the travel agencies,” said Lesley Chartier, a travel agent for selloffvacations.com.

Chartier says it’s the high season, which means booking last-minute flights are expensive and seats are limited.

“If somebody is going on a cruise, for instance, it’s leaving on Sunday, and they were flying in on Saturday. ‘Am I going to miss my cruise? How much money do I have to spend to buy another flight?’”

An air passenger advocacy company says complaints against Air Canada are rising.

“There’s a lot of questions. Not a lot of communication, though, from Air Canada, which has become quite stressful for the travelers right now,” said Jacob Charbonneau, co-founder of Volenretard.ca.

Air Canada is advising passengers not to go to the airport unless their flight is confirmed and still operating. The airline says passengers whose flights are cancelled will receive a full refund, though some experts advise rejecting the refund and asking the airline to rebook them on another flight.

But Flynn says according to the Air Canada app, if her flight did get cancelled, she would have only received Air Canada credits.

“It’s pretty much useless. You just want your money back so that you can book somewhere else,” said Flynn.