Passenger frustration mounts at Pearson as Air Canada strike drags on

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Tempers flared and patience was tested Monday as Air Canada passengers inside Toronto’s Pearson International Airport remained helplessly grounded while flight attendants continued to defy a federal back-to-work order.

“I’m sitting here at my own expense — this is my fourth night (stuck),” said Veronica McGinn, from Fredericton, N.B.

“I’m a little upset. I’ve been flying Air Canada for 40 years. I’m an Air Canada frequent flyer member, not Elite or anything. I’ve been dedicated. I’ve been loyal to them,” she added. “I haven’t flown any other airlines if I can help it. And I feel a little betrayed by the company. I support these guys on the picket line because I know how hard they work. I know what they do. And that’s why I’m not 100% upset.”

McGinn, who has co-shared hotel expenses with another woman she just met, had been trying since last Friday to get to Edmonton for the National Lawn Bowling Tournament.

McGinn made it as far as Montreal but got stuck in Toronto on Friday and Air Canada moved her to a Thursday departure this week.

“I wanted to get out to Edmonton with my team. They made it. I didn’t. They can’t even guarantee I’m even going to be out on Thursday. But I might not be able to get home. It doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon.”

McGinn figures she’s out several thousand dollars due to the job disruption and might be looking at a rental car, bus or train to head home.

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Italian insurance lawyer Federica Fattory, from a small town outside of Rome, had been travelling across Canada with their husband until the trip was derailed by the Air Canada strike.

“It’s terrible because we lost the rest of our journey,” she said, referring to carrying on from Toronto to Calgary and Vancouver after already spending time in Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Sudbury.

“So we did 12 days of our journey but the last week we lose everything. We remain here in Toronto for four days because of this situation and we booked hotels on our (own.) No one would refund us. We booked another flight with another company Air Transat at a high price to come back to Italy. The price was crazy.”

Fattory estimated they spent $2,000 Euros each on the Air Transat flights from Toronto to Rome.

“The right to strike is a right (but) don’t violate other rights,” she said. “This exercise, so massive, violates the rights of a lot of passengers. This (has caused) great, great damage for passengers and for the future of the company.”

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has declared the strike by the company’s 10,000 flight attendants illegal. Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu invoked Sec. 107 of the Labour Code to ask the CIRB to order the union’s leadership to direct its members to return to work and send both sides to binding arbitration.

The union is refusing, and has challenged the order in Federal Court.