Air Canada Cancels Flight Halfway Through Flight
By Scott Slute
Winnipeg - Passengers onboard an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Calgary say they were shocked when a few hours after takeoff were informed by staff that their flight had just been cancelled and they would be immediately landing at the nearest airport.
The struggling airline had announced they would be cancelling over 10% of upcoming flights, forcing flyers to rebook. Unfortunately for these unlucky flyers, the cancelations (which included the Calgary-bound plane) were made a few hours into their flight and they landed in Winnipeg, 1400 km from their original destination.
“I had heard about all the cancelled flights, but I assumed that once the plane took off I would be good. I guess I was wrong,” said 34 year old passenger Amy Douglas. Douglas tells us she has been on the phone with Air Canada for 6 hours trying to book a flight to anywhere other than Winnipeg, but has had no luck.
Amy isn’t alone, with other passengers trying to find new passage to Calgary or back to Toronto. However for many it will cost hundreds of extra dollars, as Air Canada has informed them they will only be receiving a partial refund as the airline did provide them partial transportation to their destination.
One passenger is taking this detour as a blessing in disguise and will be turning what was going to be a trip to Calgary to visit her newborn nephew into a weeklong vacation in beautiful Winnipeg.
“You know, I had never even heard of this place before the plane was forced to land here, but maybe I’ll just stay,” said 41 year old Carol Horne, “I’m sure there must be lots to do here. And the mosquitos are so bad at home right now this’ll probably be a nice break.”
The company says to expect more cancellations in the coming months as it tries to maximize squeezing as many humans onto a single plane as possible. The airline says to avoid further cancellations they may begin forcing passengers to parachute out of the plane as it flies past their destination city.
Scott Slute is the Editor in Chief at The Toronto Harold