Air Canada Flight Cancellations and Delays: Expert Compensation Guide

On Dec. 18th, I passed the airport security check and arrived at the gate well ahead of departure. When it was my turn to board, one of two gate agents denied me because my passport was unacceptable. I explained that my passport was not in mint condition, but I just passed the airport security check without a problem and I have been flying internationally with this passport in this condition in the last 5 years without any problem. This was the first time I had been denied boarding or even questioned about the condition of my passport. The gate agents mentioned that Air Canada is not willing to board me because if my passport is flagged as damaged on my return flight from the USA to Canada, Air Canada would risk paying a fine. The agents insisted on canceling my ticket and refused any further assistance. They allowed the flight to depart without me, and escorted me out of the airport. Left helpless, I had to book the next available flight from another carrier. The fact that my passport was acceptable as a travel document was proven the next day when I boarded Delta Airlines flight DL4867 from Toronto (YYZ) to Las Vegas (LAS) without incident, I arrived in Las Vegas around 10 am on Dec. 19th (12 hours later than my original arrival) and I returned on Jan 2nd, 2024 American Airlines flight AA5030 from Birmingham, USA (BHM) to Toronto (YYZ), also without incident. Based on my conversation with the Air Canada agents, the decision to deny my travel documents lies squarely with the carrier, and my successful flights before and immediately after prove that Air Canada was inconsistent with other carriers in the standard operating procedures. It creates unnecessary confusion and inconvenience among passengers when they are weakest and helpless to plow through holiday traffic. It is also my understanding that the decision was made on the basis of a cynical calculation of financial risk mitigation in which the small chance of a fine outweighed the certainty of damages and additional inconveniences to me as the customer. In my case, Air Canada had a conflict of interest and they decided to put their interests ahead of their customers’. Air Canada mistreated me and abused my rights. I am requesting an apology and a full refund of the cost of my replacement ticket for the amount of CAD $471.21. This does not account for the value of my lost time, additional booked reservations, and the significant distress this situation caused to me and my family. I will fight vigorously to protect my rights and dignity.

Flight was scheduled for departure at 7 pm with scheduled boarding at 6:15 pm. At 5:43 pm we were informed through text message that "Your flight AC864 to London is delayed due to additional time needed to substitute aircraft and will now depart at 00:00 from Gate A58". After I opened a case with Air Canada's self service tool the official reason offered was "This flight is delayed due to additional time needed to substitute the aircraft. Due to an unforeseen maintenance issue, the aircraft for your flight may have had to be changed, and the arrival of the replacement aircraft took longer than expected". Flight left airport after midnight and arrived at London with a 4 hours and 58 mins delay. --FLIGHT INFORMATION-- Flight Number: 864 Flight Date: 2024/01/26 Departure City: YUL Montréal Trudeau Arrival City: LHR London (UK) The company didn't provide any care as I had access to the business lounge being a Star Alliance Gold member. The company didn;t provide a further text to notify boarding, I just had to fugure it out myself and move to the gate. I had a hotel booked which I could have stayed longer should the company informed me earlier of the delay. I had to make taxi arrangements at a cost of £120 to pick me up from Heathrow as my wife could no longer pick me up. I was absolutely shattered as I had stayed on UK time throughout my stay in Montreal and struggled to remain asleep to board. I didn't have any of my food during the flight and although I was in Economy Plus, I didn't get any of the benefits of the CAD 352$ upgrade taht I paid except from the extra leg room. Overall the service offered was unacceptable and I would expect them to pay me at least my taxi and refund the cost of my upgrade.

my flight was at 3pm they left a voicemail at 8.00 am so i called and they said they dont have any other flight-i said i need to be back as i have a specialist appointment so they told me they can book me for noon flight so i had to take uber miss free breakfast and was not able to claim my vat

The departure time kept slipping and slipping totaling 3+ hours

We took off from Cartagena-Colombia, towards the city of Bogota-Colombia, to do immigration and in the next 2 hours make connection with the flight that would take me home to the city of Toronto-Canada, surprise, when at the Air Canada offices (Bogota) they tell us that there is a problem and the connecting flight to Toronto would be delayed for several hours. I ask the reason and they tell me that they only know this and that there is a delay and nothing more. They send us to a room hotel, to rest, with breakfast and lunch included and I ask, why the wait so long, they only tell me the same thing... flight delay, but they never tell me what's really happening... At 4:35 P.M., a passenger vehicle picks up my husband and I at the hotel, they take us to the airport, we wait 1 hour and 30 minutes, to board the plane to Toronto, and the flight on which I was supposed to arrive at 4:10 P.M on June 5/2023...I landed in the City of Toronto the next day at 2:00 a.m. on June 6/2023...with a delay 10 hours....this is fair. When I was summoned from 5:00 A.M to the Cartagena airport and had a stopover in Bogota and I was supposed to be in Toronto this day at 4:10 P.M...is it fair? My husband suffered from a sugar spike, he is a Type 2 Diabetic, a Senior, the Strees was overwhelming him for a long time, even when we arrived at our final destination, which is our city of Toronto... the airline did not provide any help , being in the city of Bogota and much less in the cabin, when we requested painkillers, for the severe headache that my husband was suffering, due to the high sugar he had and was suffering at that time, since before the Aircraft took off.

My previous connecting flight was delayed so I missed the original flight from YYZ to BGI and had to take the flight the next day.

Crew constraints are the main reason of delayed. My original flight was on July 14, 2023 and they said that my next flight would be the next day July 15. I was given a Hotel accommodation and 2 meal vouchers. I paid for the taxi ($20) going to the hotel because airport taxi’s are having a strike that time. The next day they cancelled again my flight and moved to July 16. But this time no Hotel accommodation and meal vouchers given. They cancelled my flight 2 times. I was stuck in Vancouver for 2 days. I was able to board my flight going to Saskatoon on the July 16.

The airline sent one e-mail with information about the delay (including the new departure time). Reason in the email: This flight is delayed due to an unscheduled maintenance issue within the aircraft that needs to be resolved. An example of a maintenance issue could include repairing a broken seat, the in-flight entertainment system console or other components within the aircraft.

The first flight was cancelled due to "crew constraints". Subsequent flights were cancelled due to weather.

We arrived at our final destination at 2330 hours Initial flight was to leave at 1555 hours then delayed three times till 2020 hours No care was provided by AC. Both spouse and myself missed a day's work

Air Canada cancelled Flight on July 21st and then again on July 22. Finally they were able to fly us out on July 23rd. We were stuck in Montreal for more than 48 hours.

"We're sorry, AC801 from Dublin to Toronto is cancelled due to a technical issue from an earlier flight which is causing the aircraft that is scheduled to operate your flight to not be available."

The flight was delayed by 2 hours and then right when the boarding was supposed to start at midnight, the flight got cancelled.

Flight on July 12th was first delayed twice due to “additional preparation time needed by the cabin crew”. And then an hour later it was cancelled due to “destination airport limitations” The cancellation happened 2.5 hours before departure time as we were already at the airport. Instead of direct flight We were rescheduled to 1 layover flight next day. We arrived 15 hours later than we were supposed to initially. We spent about $100 taking uber back home and to the airport next day. We also spent about $60 on meals during layover because the second leg of our trip was also delayed. We lost one day of vacation, one day of paid car rental and on the second flight we had to sit separately due to flight being full (we travelled with a small child),

There were mechanical issues but Air Canada is saying This flight was delayed due to unforeseen maintenance that does not include scheduled maintenance or mechanical problems identified during scheduled maintenance.

Flight delay due to additional time needed to address pilot scheduling issues

We had checked in for our AIr Canada flight 2410 and enjoying a drink when I got message to say that flight was cancelled "due to crew constraints" . There was no other information provided for at least 1 or 2 hrs, then we were told to collect our luggage and queue again to get accommodation for the night. We were then told indirectly that no accommodation was available, so we booked our own. The alternative offered was for next day's flight routed via Dublin which is in EU, but although my passport is valid until January 2024 it was issued in Oct 2013 and so doesn't meet EU requirement. Next morning I Had to use phones in Toronto airport as no desk available, and only sure way back within 24 hrs was to go to Heathrow and then take train back to Preston. Have submitted claim for expenses and compensation over a month ago, but no response from Air Canada other than automated acknowledgement. The original flight was scheduled to land in Manchester on 04 Jul 2023 @ 10:35. We actually landed at Heathrow at 11:00 on 5 July

They said it was cancelled for maintenance reasons and then rejected our claim as these maintenance issues were safety related. They also charged us for the an alternative flight as the one originally offered was too disruptive to our plans and arrived much later.

Received text message at 10:10 PM the night before stating: flight AC8949/14 Aug from Toronto to Atlanta has been cancelled due to crew constraints. We are actively looking to find an alternate flight and will update you shortly. Three minutes later, I was told that they had booked me on a flight at 4:40 PM arriving at 6:49 PM. As a result, I would miss the whole day at work in Atlanta and mine business dinner meeting.

Different reasons given. Cancelation E-Mail: unforseen aircraft maintenance, for details pls. cf. attached cancellation e-mail. Claim rejection: destination airport limitations, for details pls. cf. attached rejection e-mail Final arrival at airport: 00:22+1 Vancouver time, originally sceduled: 11:00 a.m. - approx. 13,5 hours delay

We arrived at YEG, checked in and went thru security. Minutes before boarding our flight we were told the flight was delayed. Then about 1/2 hr to 1hr we were told the flight was canceled - the captains chair was broken. We got our luggage and went to Air Canada ticket counter and rebooked. The best they could do was book us on a flight leaving at 6pm (8hrs later) and our connecting flight would be the following morning. We were promised a voucher for hotel - which we did not get. When we landed in Toronto, it was midnight and nothing was open except A&W. we found an Air Canada ticket place - when it got to our turn they said we are closed now. We ended up spending the night in the airport - had no sleep and no food till 5AM the next morning when places started to open again. We encountered problems on the way back too. When we got to the airport in Timmins at 9AM we were told our flight had been canceled and rescheduled for 4:40pm. They managed to get us on our canceled flight and we got to Toronto only to wait for another hours for a connecting flight - since our original one was supposedly canceled - waited on 3 standby flights before getting a flight. I think Air Canada is purposely overbooking to get consumers $$ then fitting them in where ever. This was a trip I do not want to remember. Not sure I will trust Air canada again.

Flight AC1529 Scheduled to leave YFC at 1800 delayed 1915 1955 2045 2320 2345 The delays made us miss connection flight from YYZ to YVR. Made it to YVR 10 hours after original scheduled arrival

The flight was canceled and I was rebooked due to “staffing issues”

Same flight AC095 was cancelled on June 18 and then a week later on Jun 25 when my wife was supposed to take it, it was cancelled sgain

Our international direct flight from Toronto to Miami was cancelled by Air Canada within 3 hours of the flight on Saturday 24 June 2023. The alternative ticket offered was not direct with long layover and wouldn’t get us to Miami until 2 days after our original planned arrival (June 26 at 0019). We lost money for transportation (Uber) to the airport. We lost money by needing to book a hotel. We lost money by needing to book an expensive same day ticket on another airline. We arrived Miami at 2210 traveling via another airline as against 1200 which was our original plan. We missed our cousin’s wedding bachelors party.

- Had to be rebooked to the next day’s flight - needed to stay overnight at connecting city

They keept delaying the flight hour by hour , we were supposed to departure around 17:25 and we did around 22:20

Flight was delayed due to operational issue. They have booked me in another flight but that was also missed due to first delay. Now I am reaching after 24 hours

This flight is delayed due to additional time needed to address pilot scheduling issues.

They told us nothing …. It’s less than 24 hrs ! We were trying to check in and were unable. We had to call them and no one is picking up the phone or giving us info ! Ridiculous! Careless! Irresponsible and unprofessional !

I arrived 20 hrs late at my destination . The airline informed me 1 hrs eariler when i have to catch my flight . I missed an event beacuse of that . I would like to have refund because of the inconvenience i have from last day that was so disappointing and harassing. As i was in the airport the whole time despite they gave us hotel vouchers but when i went to hotel they denies that I don’t have a reservation under my name and they don’t have room for me .

My flight was delayed multiple times, eventually arriving 4 hours late. We were informed there was an issue with Air Canada planning software followed by issues scheduling the arrival at YYZ.

My partner and I arrived at Toronto airport from Vancouver in plenty of time, and were waiting at the gate when we were first told that there was a delay in boarding due to cleaning of the aircraft. We boarded an hour late and were told by the pilot that there were some final checks to complete before take off. It was clear that the plane had not been fully cleaned and restocked prior to boarding as there were food packets and crumbs on the seats. We waited on board the aircraft for two hours, still on the tarmac, until the pilot reported at 01:30hrs that the flight was cancelled. He said that some paperwork for one of the toilets was incorrect. I did not receive an email reporting the cancellation until 06:46hrs. This email stated that the flight was cancelled due to an unforeseen aircraft maintenance issue affecting key aircraft systems which could include flight controls, navigation systems or hydraulics. I do not believe that paperwork for a single toilet falls under the category of a key aircraft system.  We exited the plane at 01:40hrs, back into the departure lounge. We were told that anyone living in the Toronto area would have taxis provided to get them home, and that anyone who had had a connecting flight would be eligible for a hotel room. We were relieved to hear this, but unfortunately this was only the start of our ordeal. We were close to the back of the queue to get hotel room vouchers, but completely understood that passengers with small children and those with disabilities took priority. The hotel vouchers soon ran out - it was a busy flight - and the Air Canada staff members didn’t seem sure of what to do. At 03:00hrs we were told that we needed to leave the ‘air side’ area by customs officials. We were told to collect our baggage from the carousel and that Air Canada representatives would be waiting for us by the carousel with more hotel vouchers. The staff that spoke to us were rude, surly and unhelpful.  We collected our luggage, but there was no one from Air Canada waiting for us. In fact, that area of the airport was completely empty. We couldn’t find a single person to tell us where to go or what to do. There was a group of around 30 people, including us, now wandering the airport trying to find help. We were very tired and cold by this point, and had had no food or water except a ‘fun sized’ granola bar we were given on the plane around midnight. There were older people with us, and some with back problems and disabilities that were struggling due to the prolonged wait. We were eventually told by an airport official that we needed to go to the Air Canada check in desk. We did so, and were told that it didn’t open until 06:00hrs. There was nowhere to sit down, so we stood in the cold airport for a further 2 hours waiting for the desk to open. When the first Air Canada representative came to the desk, they hadn’t heard anything about our flight being cancelled. This meant that it took repeated phone calls and checking in with more senior team members before we were finally got hotel vouchers at 07:27hrs. We were sent downstairs to get a shuttle bus to the hotel, which took another 25 minutes in cold temperatures.   This catalogue of errors and inhumane treatment is the reason I am seeking compensation. The poor communication and lack of care lead to the worst experience we have had in an airport. We were both extremely anxious, exhausted and cold. I suffer from bronchiectasis and become very unwell if I get cold and tired.