Air Canada bumps 10yo son only (not rest of family)

This was after the United snafu:

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/prince-edward-island/p-e-i-family-s-10-year-old-son-bumped-from-overbooked-air-canada-flight-1.4071922

Apparently one of the adults in the family wanted to offer a non-bumped seat for the child, but was told that although the seat could be relinquished, it might be given to a more frequent flyer, and not to the son.

Father and son *both* took a later flight, where a connection was cancelled... Good thing the 10 yo wasnt' traveling alone.

It's the algorithm at its finest and the inability of human Air Canada employees to do anything about it.

I cant read the article as it won't open but I trust your description of the incident

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If I read the article correctly, I'm going to comment that a mistake the family made is not picking seats when they booked their tickets. This might not have happened if they did that.

That said, yes, it is horrific that an airline would bump a child and not allow an adult in the group to give up their seat instead. Not handled well at all.

(To access the article, you need to copy and paste it. It is not an active link. To OP: when pasting a link into a post, click on the link icon first and paste it there. That will make it active to just a simple click.)

How about a 1 day protest where no one travels by air. Let's use the power of the people.

How about a 1 day protest where no one travels by air. Let's use the power of the people.

Or at least a 1 day protest where no one buys a ticket either online on the phone or through a TA

Heck a 2 hour protest would even be enough

Just freeze them out

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And then you go back and buy the ticket the next day. It's not like you impact the overall business, just what happens that day, followed by a corresponding increase the next day.

I smell a bit of a screwup on the part of the family. I really doubt that a group of 4 on one reservation would have a situation where they can't select seats for the whole group, and could get all but one. I suspect that they booked these on separate reservations (for whatever reason) and did the kid's ticket last. Had the father been the last one processed, he would have been the one left off.

Why the kid wasn't on a reservation with an adult - good question.

And then you go back and buy the ticket the next day. It's not like you impact the overall business, just what happens that day, followed by a corresponding increase the next day.

 

I smell a bit of a screwup on the part of the family. I really doubt that a group of 4 on one reservation would have a situation where they can't select seats for the whole group, and could get all but one. I suspect that they booked these on separate reservations (for whatever reason) and did the kid's ticket last. Had the father been the last one processed, he would have been the one left off.

 

Why the kid wasn't on a reservation with an adult - good question.

Please, surely even a computer is able to understand that one born after 1999 is not an adult. I.E. he/she is a minor! Should not be a difficult concept to grasp.

 

Why the kid wasn't on a reservation with an adult - good question.

I've booked my minor child separately before; I often use miles to get his ticket but pay for mine to get my medallion qualifying miles. I have to book mine first, and then call the airline with my confirmation number, so they can book his and override the unaccompanied minor fee since he isn't really unaccompanied.

Just like the latest people to try to get their 15 minutes of fame and milk United: couple asked to leave flight from Houston to Costa Rica after they kept sneaking up to the Economy Plus section before the flight was fully boarded. "A man was asleep in our seats." Sure. Didn't ask the FA to find other seats. Didn't ask the FA to wake up the guy. They didn't try to wake the guy. Why did they not go backwards to seats in their class of service, instead of poaching and, after being asked if they wanted to upgrade, decline to pay? Then, they said they went back to their seats and were then asked to leave. How could they go back to their seats if some guy was sleeping in the seats? No videos taken, no other passengers outraged.

Then, they lied and said a "US Marshall" took them off the flight. Nope. No police, no FAMs, no "US Marshall" (who don't work airports, anyway). United did what they usually have done with people that have been taken off for various reasons - re-accomodated them on another flight.

Don't say "why couldn't they stay in the better seats?" If I paid extra for those seats and then someone poaches them for free, I'm going to be pissed. Other airlines monitor those seats to be sure no one moves up.

Please, surely even a computer is able to understand that one born after 1999 is not an adult. I.E. he/she is a minor! Should not be a difficult concept to grasp.

Depending on how and where you do the booking you many not need to enter the date of birth.

In Canada photo ID is only required at the gate when you board the aircraft. At that point it a bit to late.

Just like the latest people to try to get their 15 minutes of fame and milk United: couple asked to leave flight from Houston to Costa Rica after they kept sneaking up to the Economy Plus section before the flight was fully boarded. "A man was asleep in our seats." Sure. Didn't ask the FA to find other seats. Didn't ask the FA to wake up the guy. They didn't try to wake the guy. Why did they not go backwards to seats in their class of service, instead of poaching and, after being asked if they wanted to upgrade, decline to pay? Then, they said they went back to their seats and were then asked to leave. How could they go back to their seats if some guy was sleeping in the seats? No videos taken, no other passengers outraged.

Then, they lied and said a "US Marshall" took them off the flight. Nope. No police, no FAMs, no "US Marshall" (who don't work airports, anyway). United did what they usually have done with people that have been taken off for various reasons - re-accomodated them on another flight.

Don't say "why couldn't they stay in the better seats?" If I paid extra for those seats and then someone poaches them for free, I'm going to be pissed. Other airlines monitor those seats to be sure no one moves up.

In this case CBC (a national broadcaster in Canada) has been fairly regularly picking on Air Canada. Any chance to do investigative journalism on Air Canada is taken up.

Personally I think Air Canada deserves it, overbooking is a poor practice that their primary competitor WestJet does not do. WestJet has raised the bar, and Air Canada should be shammed into meeting it.

Air Canada has said, that parents and kids should be seated together and after a previous set of CBC reports, they were forced to become more flexible on seat assignments.

Some folks say that an auction for bumping would have prevented these (AC, UA) types of situations. Here's a funny video from the Canadian TV show 22 Minutes about Air Canada auctions.

If nothing else, a smile for you.