[kseagrove]

So, Air Canada is officially the worst airline I've dealt with.
And I've seen plenty.
Complaints have been filed with the airline, CTA and IATA so far.
This is only a beginning. Feel free to share my experience, as I am sure it's very common.
Side note - YYZ, YAM and even YTZ were OPEN and functioning at the time.

My flight was cancelled as I arrived to the airport, without any explanation, as another airline operating the same aircraft type, landed and took off safely.
I was given an alternative to leave on Thursday instead of scheduled Monday flight, with no concern of how am I supposed to pay for my stay in Sault Ste Marie for additional 3 days, missing work at the same time.
No food vouchers, hotel or any other accommodations were offered. No alternative flights were offered. Nor from another city, nor from different airline.
I will be filing a separate complaints RE: your customer service help line, as well as baggage handling.
The flight cancellation complaint is also being filed with Canadian Transportation Agency.
That's unacceptable treatment of customers, with no effort made whatsoever to rectify the situation.
I was left with no alternative but miss work, look for accommodation and pay for food for three days.
I'm compiling a group claim as well, as every passenger on the flight was treated in the same manner.

Cancellation email was received AFTER I've returned from the airport, and the monitors still showed the flight as delayed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM CTA;

To: Kyle Seagrove

Subject: Next steps - Your air travel complaint - 18-60054

We have successfully received your complaint. Due to an increase of complaints the Agency has received, there may be a delay before your case is assigned to an officer. Rest assured that this will not impact the outcome of your complaint.

* If you have baggage issues or are currently traveling and require immediate assistance, please ensure you have filed a claim with your airline before filing a complaint with the Agency. *

Your case number is 18-60054 . You can check the status of your complaint at any time through our website by entering your case number.

Please note that there is zero tolerance for rude or abusive language. Telephone calls may be recorded for monitoring and quality improvement purposes.

Next steps

Our expert staff will review your complaint and ask you for more information, if necessary.

If you haven't contacted the airline about your complaint, that's the first thing we'll do. We will forward your complaint to the airline with a 30-day deadline for them to respond. Often the issue can be resolved directly with the airline.

If you're not satisfied with the airline's response, we can try to resolve your complaint through facilitation or mediation - fast and easy informal dispute resolution processes. The vast majority of complaints are resolved this way.

Where less formal processes don't prove successful, the Agency also offers a court-like process called adjudication, where a panel will make a decision based on the evidence provided.

The adjudication process can also be used in more complex cases where a passenger feels that the airline's contract is unclear, unjust, unreasonable or discriminatory.

In the meantime, if you're planning future travel, you may find Fly Smart helpful – it's a handy guide on flying to, from and within Canada.

How to submit documents

If you have documents that you couldn't upload, you can send them by mail, email or fax. Please include your case number.

Mail: Please send us legible copies (not original documents).

Canadian Transportation Agency
Air travel complaints
Case number: 18-60054
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N9

AIR CANADA REPLY:

Case Number: CAS-819154-R1X6T9

Dear Mr. Seagrove,

We appreciate the time you have taken to email us and thank you for choosing Air Canada for your travel during the holiday season.

Air Canada works hard to be ready for our customers who are travelling at this special time of year to see family, close friends or getting away to a long awaited vacation destination. Extensive planning starts months in advance to keep our schedules on time and make sure everyone is looked after.

Despite our extensive planning, the extreme cold temperatures all across Canada along with snow, high winds and airport closures caused widespread flight delays and cancellations. The challenge continued into the New Year with numerous winter storms.

Throughout this time, we did everything we could to keep our customers moving. Our staff worked around the clock under difficult circumstances. Call Center employees assisted customers with re-bookings and questions while others worked face to face and behind the scenes. Travel advisories on our website and through the media were updated as soon as we had the information. Communications through social media reached avast audience as quickly as they could be released.

Our resources were tremendously stretched as our schedule was backed up and airplanes, pilots and flight attendants out of position. We tell you this not to make excuses, but to assure you that we did everything possible to get customers on their way.

Air Canada does not reimburse expenses or refund ground transportation charges when flights are disrupted by weather. We offer both travel insurance and On My Way to customers at the time of ticket purchase so they are protected from unexpected costs. If you have either of these to cover the expenses you have, or as an added benefit from your credit card provider, we will be pleased to assist you in any way we can in this regard.

If you were unable to travel and have portions of your ticket that were not used, you may request a refund through our Refund Services department ataircanada.com/…/aco/…/fly/customer-support/refund-services.

While no one can be responsible for the extreme weather we saw, we certainly know your time is valuable and we are sorry that you were inconvenienced. In appreciation of your support, I am enclosing a promo code that will provide you with a 25% discount on a future flight with Air Canada.

In closing, we thank you for choosing to fly with us and wish you all the best in 2018.

Sincerely,
Elaine Miller
Customer Relations

FORWARDED TO CTA WITH AIRLINE'S RESPONSE:

Good afternoon.

Reply from Air Canada included.

Please note - the airport wasn't closed, as Porter flight, using the same aircraft type, arrived and left on time.
Also, I wasn't offered any alternative and was told that I have to "get to Sudbury myself if I want to fly from there", as well as the claim that "my expenses on the ground will not be reimbursed, because flight cancellation was caused by extreme weather" (please see above RE: Porter flight).
I was left stranded for three days, with no explanation and means of accommodation.
I'm contacting other passengers from the same flight that were told to "look for alternative themselves".

I will be taking this complaint further, until the satisfactory decision is made.