Actor Neville Longbottom Calls Air Canada North America S Worst Airline On Twitter

    Airline Type: Full Service Carrier  
    Hub(s): Calgary International Airport, Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, Vancouver International Airport  
    Year of establishment: 1965  
    Alliance: Star Alliance  
    CEO: Michael Rousseau  
    Country: Canada  

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He was flown from First in Economy

Lewis felt the need to make such a statement after a somewhat embarrassing flight from Orlando to Toronto, where the actor reportedly claims that Air Canada denied him entry into First Class despite having provided him with a prepaid airline ticket for his position. Instead, the actor further claims that the airline employee had torn up his air ticket. There was also little to no explanation other than the flight was already fully booked. And without his First Class plane ticket, Lewis was reassigned to an Economy Class seat, all of which reportedly happened when he reached the departure gate. The situation was made even worse when Lewis was asked to seek help from the airline’s customer service desk, located at his destination in Toronto, which meant he could not get immediate clarification or help. While it was unfortunate for Lewis to be bumped into different cabin classes than the one he originally paid for, he was fortunate that Air Canada didn’t deny him boarding altogether or make him rebook on a different flight. The actor was in Toronto for Fan Expo Canada, where several fans paid money to see him and other actors in person. Had Air Canada denied him boarding, Lewis may have missed the conference.

The unpleasantness accumulates

The Star Alliance member airline contacted Lewis to settle the matter privately. However, it seems indicative that this was caused by overbooking, which is practiced quite often throughout the global airline industry as a means for airlines to ensure their flights are filled. Unfortunately, the practice only works to the advantage of the airline and never to the benefit of the passenger, as Lewis experienced despite having a First Class plane ticket. Lewis stressed that Air Canada needs to start improving its customer service, adding that passengers should be treated better and should start standing their ground and calling out these problematic practices, saying: “We as a society should not be okay with the normalization of overbooking profit and taking people off flights.” And in response to Lewis’ tweets, social media exploded with several more users condemning and recounting their unpleasant experiences with Air Canada, most of whom agreed with Lewis’ bold claims. The reasons included the airline’s alleged refusal to take a passenger’s luggage in London, resulting in the passenger having to pay an additional $500. Other reasons were delayed flights with zero compensation from Air Canada or sudden last-minute flight cancellations.

The worst airline in North America?

As more disgruntled passengers shared their frustration, a few others came to Air Canada’s defense, saying they would feel the same way if someone were in Lewis’ shoes. Furthermore, given that many other airlines overbook flights, Lewis’ claims are biasedly exaggerated. Others have also claimed to have had similar unpleasant experiences flying with Air Transat and WestJet and even more horrific experiences with US carriers. Again, Lewis’s claims come as Canadian airlines and airports face ongoing criticism for persistent delays and regular mass cancellations, highlighting a bigger problem than Air Canada but across the Canadian aviation industry. Especially when it comes to the issue of Canadian airlines, not just Air Canada, not paying passengers their rightful compensation. The situation has gotten so bad for passengers that the Canadian government is making changes to the Air Passenger Protection Regulation that will require Canadian airlines to make a greater effort to provide compensation or risk a fine of $25,000 per incident of non-compliance . So it might seem, given how chaotic air service has been not only in Canada but in the rest of North America, Air Canada might not be the worst airline on the continent. Source: Narcity