Passengers scramble to rebook flights after Air Canada strike ends

Air Canada operations are set to resume but some frustrated passengers are still dealing with the cost of the strike.

Anxious travelers rolled into Victoria International Airport in B.C. mere hours after the Air Canada strike ended Tuesday morning, some rebooking flights for days later than planned.

Storm and Shota Nogami and their young infant are feeling the full brunt of the airline being grounded.

Their flight home on Monday, from Victoria to Toronto following a wedding in Victoria, was cancelled. Air Canada rebooked them a flight, but it wouldn’t return them home for another six days.

The couple would have been responsible for paying for a hotel Monday night, and so came to the airport seeking an earlier flight.

“It’s costly when it comes to accommodating ourselves in Victoria, but losing out on a week of work is a lot,” said Storm on Tuesday.

Air Canada ultimately booked them on a flight home on Tuesday on a WestJet plane, via Vancouver.

The couple both said they felt relieved by the turn of events.

“It’s been an up-and-down rollercoaster, very emotional,” said Storm after receiving the good news.

Gabor Lukacs, the founder of Air Passenger Rights, a non-profit organization that advocates for airline passengers, said Tuesday that Air Canada is required by law to book a customer on a competitor if their flight is cancelled due to the strike, and Air Canada doesn’t book the customer a new flight with them within 48 hours.

This is the option Lukacs recommends over the other option of a refund. If passengers accept a refund, the airline won’t have to pay a higher cost for that alternative, he says.

“Air Canada has been trying to con people, scam people, to believe that there are no other flights available, so a refund was their only option,” says Lukacs.

The Nogamis aren’t entitled to a reimbursement for the hotel cost either, he adds.

Under Canadian law, for domestic flights, airlines don’t owe expenses like hotel or meals following a strike.

Lukacs calls this a shortcoming of Canadian law, especially when compared to other parts of the world.

“If the same thing happened in Europe, they would be owed meals accommodation,” he said.