Poor communication leaves travel plans up in the air for stranded Manitobans

Winnipeg Free Press

13 hours ago

With their travel plans thrown into chaos, stranded Manitobans continue to grapple with the uncertainty of the Air Canada strike as others have been forced to get creative in their bids to return home.
'We're all feeling a little stir crazy and a bit nervous that this is going to drag on longer,' said Winnipegger Vicky Peters, who is stuck in St. John's, NL. 'We're safe, it's just it's very, very frustrating, and it will be very expensive for us to all get out of here.'
Peters, in St. John's to watch her 15-year-old son compete in the Canada Summer Games, has a return flight scheduled Thursday, but she's concerned it will be cancelled.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
Ferries and flights to the mainland are either booked or delayed by days. Another option — a flight out of St. John's to Montreal or Toronto — doesn't leave until next week at a price of about $1,500 a ticket from a competing airline.
As a result, Peters has been co-ordinating with other parents to try and secure charter flights for her and about 50 others.
Air Canada has not been helpful, she said.
'They keep saying … they can't change people's flights, their hands are tied. And because they keep saying they're going back to work in a day, they won't book you on other airlines, even if you can find something.'
More than 10,000 flight attendants walked off the job Saturday after the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Air Canada failed to reach a deal at the midnight deadline. Wages and unpaid work are the sticking points.
'They keep saying … they can't change people's flights, their hands are tied. And because they keep saying they're going back to work in a day, they won't book you on other airlines, even if you can find something.'– Winnipegger Vicky Peters
Union officials defied a return-to-work order by the federal government on Monday.
CUPE Manitoba president Gina McKay vowed as long as the striking workers would press on, the local would have their backs.
'We're going to hold the line for you,' McKay said Monday.
Air Canada estimates 500,000 flights have been cancelled as a result of the strike.
'Air Canada regrets this impact on its customers and is fully committed to returning to service as soon as possible,' the airline said in a news release.
Under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations, Air Canada must re-book passengers on competitor airlines if it cannot re-book them on their own, or provide a refund and fly customers back to their point of origin free of charge.
Free Press faith columnist John Longhurst was stranded in Ontario until Thursday after his return flight to Winnipeg was cancelled Saturday.
He said he was frustrated with Air Canada's lack of communication and travel options.
'I understand and appreciate that Air Canada had a lot of people to deal with, but not getting information just made it so much harder,' said Longhurst, who is staying with family in Kitchener. 'It was just mostly the uncertainty of the thing. Like, just help us. Help us not feel so anxious about what's going to happen now.'
He spent hours on the phone with AI-assisted customer service, only to be told there was nothing that could be done. He, too, considered booking with another airline but prices were too high.
'Those really weren't realistic options. So it was roll the dice and hope for a better option, and luckily for me I was able to get one,' Longhurst said.
City court proceedings are even being impacted by the strike. A fraud and forgery case, which had been slated for sentencing, had to be adjourned until later in the week after the accused wasn't able attend due to the work stoppage, a provincial court judge heard Monday afternoon.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Some unlucky passengers took matters into their own hands. Bonnie Bradley returned home to Winnipeg Monday morning after a weekend of driving.
Bradley, her sister and mom were wrapping up a 10-day vacation in Newfoundland and preparing to fly home Friday afternoon before their flight was delayed five hours. The trio ended up missing their connecting flight in Montreal.
Bradley and her family made the decision to bus to Ottawa, rent a car and drive it to Sault St. Marie, Ont. There's Bradley's daughter met the group, to return them home.
'I believe that Air Canada could have prepared individuals better for what this disruption was going to look like and what their options were,' Bradley said. 'None of this has been acceptable.'
The whole ordeal cost her upwards of $2,000 and makes her weary of airline travel in the future.
'I will very carefully think about who I fly with in the future,' she said.
— with files from Erik Pindera
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Nicole BuffieMultimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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