Air Canada reschedules 2 unaccompanied minors’ flight a full week from when they were to fly home

Carolina Godoretsky says initial communication from Air Canada was ‘very minimal’ after her two young children became stranded in Europe due to the strike.

Carolina Gorodetsky’s two children, ages 11 and 14, were supposed to fly home to Toronto on Wednesday after a summer vacation with their grandparents in Europe, but their flight is one of the many Air Canada cancelled amid the fallout from a flight attendants’ strike. Their return trip home isn’t for another week.

“I think really the challenge is that it’s really difficult for children to stay and wait a week for a return flight. It’s very different from adults. If I was there and believe me, if there was a flight of getting there and getting them back to Toronto, I would have done that. But, it’s becoming really, really difficult,” Gorodetsky told CTV News Toronto in an interview on Wednesday.

“We basically want them back home and the fastest and safest way possible, of course.”

Gorodetsky’s two children, Michelle and Tom, flew to Prague on Aug. 8 to vacation with their grandparents, who were flying from Israel into the Czech Republic capital to meet them. Gorodetsky says they flew there as unaccompanied minors with Air Canada without issue.

Children between the ages of eight and 11 who are travelling alone are required to fly through the Unaccompanied Minor service, Air Canada’s website states. It becomes an optional service for youth between the ages of 12 and 17.

Through this service, airline and airport staff escorts them from the beginning through the end of their trip, ensuring they are safely united with their designated guardian at their final destination. Unaccompanied minors are also only permitted to travel on direct flights.

The Gorodetsky children’s flight was initially scheduled for Wednesday at 1:40 p.m. local time, but was cancelled as a result of the flight attendants’ strike, who went to the picket lines to demand fairer wages and pay for the work they do on the ground before the plane takes off.

About 10,000 flight attendants hit the picket lines on Saturday morning and, barely a day later, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu ordered them back to work using a contentious labour provision—something union members defied to continue striking. The union and airline have since struck a tentative deal.

• READ MORE: Details of tentative Air Canada deal include some pay for ground work: source

“We’re sorry, this flight is cancelled because a labour disruption is impacting our operations. Labour disruptions are outside our control and may affect flight schedules before, during, and after periods of work stoppage or slowdown,” an automated email from Air Canada to Gorodetsky’s children reads.

In the email, reviewed by CTV News Toronto, Air Canada says its rebooking system scours for flights for “up to three days after” their cancelled flight, including those offered by competing airlines.

“Unfortunately, we have not found any available options suitable for your itinerary,” the email reads. Tom and Michelle have been scheduled to come back to Toronto next Wednesday, Aug. 27, on a flight that will have them land at Toronto Pearson just before 5 p.m.

This concerns Gorodetsky, especially since she says she has been unable to get a hold of Air Canada despite repeated attempts both on the phone and via email. With the unaccompanied minor service, however, parents are required to contact Air Canada Reservations.

“I feel really, really worried,” Gorodetsky said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty around all of this situation and as a parent, you really want to make sure that your children are safe and are able to go back home in a planned manner.”

While their grandparents are caring for Tom and Michelle until they are able to fly home, Gorodetsky says she has looked into every possible avenue to get them back to Toronto sooner.

“We need a direct flight for the kids if they’re flying by themselves. I even looked at any area around Toronto up to 10 hours drive, including the U.S., that I can take and drive myself there and pick them up from any airport,” Gorodetsky said, adding she hasn’t found an option that works for them.

Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights, says it is “completely unreasonable” on Air Canada’s part to book them on a flight a week later as it breaches what is required under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Rights (APPR), which is 48 hours after the original departure time.

“Or they (the airline has) to buy them tickets on a competitor. Air Canada is also required to provide passengers meals, overnight accommodation and 600 Euros per passenger under the European regulation,” Lukacs told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday.

On Air Canada’s part, Lukacs says it has to explore options offered from nearby airports for the Gorodetsky children to fly out of—not just Prague—pointing to Vienna and Frankfurt as potential options. The air traveller advocate says there is “no reason” why Air Canada could not put the two children on a sooner flight, adding this breach of its APPR obligations could warrant a fine or charge as laid out in sections 174 and 175 in the Canada Transportation Act.

For Gorodetsky, Lukacs recommends looking at other airlines’ unaccompanied minor services and booking them on the next flight out, even if it initially has an exorbitant cost, as Air Canada would be on the hook to cover the extra charges.

In an email to CTV News Toronto, Air Canada said it’s been in contact with the family and has found alternate travel arrangements.

“Please note that the situation arose because of our policy that unaccompanied minors can only travel on non-stop Air Canada flights for safety and security reasons,” the airline said.

In an interview with The Canadian Press on Tuesday, Air Canada executive vice-president and chief operations officer Mark Nasr said the airline is “deeply apologetic” to all of its customers and is “focused on making it right and getting them on their way.”

“When customers buy a ticket on Air Canada, they rely on the brand. We’re making a promise and we failed to live up to that promise, plain and simple. We’re going to re-earn that trust and it’s going to start right now ... by getting the planes back in the sky.” he said.

Air Canada has estimated that a return to full service will take seven to 10 days