Siok Har Lim, a Montreal resident, faced anxiety during her European trip last November due to her lack of travel experience, unfamiliarity with the destinations, and limited English skills. While her journey through Germany and Hungary was going smoothly, her return flight with Air Canada from Budapest was suddenly canceled upon her arrival at the airport.
Despite having boarded her earlier flight from Munich to Berlin, Air Canada claimed Lim was a “no-show” on that leg, leading to the cancellation of her return ticket. Stranded in a foreign country with communication challenges and only an hour before her flight, Lim had to purchase a new ticket for $2,550, causing significant stress for the senior citizen on a fixed income.
This incident is part of a pattern where Air Canada wrongly labeled passengers as “no-shows,” leading to ticket cancellations. The airline’s refusal to accept evidence, such as boarding passes and even in-flight selfies, raised concerns about passenger safety and the reliability of their record-keeping systems.
Experts emphasized the importance of accurate passenger counts for emergency situations, such as plane crashes, highlighting the potential risks of not knowing the exact number of passengers on board. Air Canada attributed the cancellations to human error or technological glitches and assured that safety was not compromised, despite the discrepancies in passenger records.
In response to the affected passengers, Air Canada offered minimal compensation, such as $100 coupons, which fell short of covering the financial burdens incurred by passengers forced to purchase new tickets. The airline’s reluctance to acknowledge the boarding errors and the subsequent legal battles faced by passengers like Christopher Bailey underscored the frustrations and inconveniences experienced by those wrongfully labeled as “no-shows.”
While Air Canada has pledged to address these incidents and improve customer handling, affected passengers like Siok Har Lim continue to seek full reimbursement and express apprehension about future travel experiences. The regulatory body, Transport Canada, vowed to investigate any potential safety issues but refrained from commenting on specific cases, leaving passengers like Lim wary of facing similar challenges in their future travels.