Air Canada passengers still scrambling for refunds, new bookings despite tentative deal

Joshua Tiglao was supposed to leave for Japan Monday morning.

It was the big summer trip he and his partner planned before they go back to nursing school full time.

“Before we go back to a stressful situation again,” Tiglao explained.

Little did they know how stressful the travel arrangements would turn out to be.

“Our trip got (cut) short for like, five days,” he said.

“My partner and I are losing like, hundreds of dollars and we’re not sure if we could get a refund.”

A tentative deal was struck between flight attendants and Air Canada on Tuesday morning, but passengers like Tiglao and his partner are still scrambling and frustrated.

Tiglao says when he was finally able to reach Air Canada, the company gave him a partial refund and new dates to fly out. But he doesn’t want to cut his trip, meant to celebrate family, so short.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “We’re still hoping if we could change our flight, hoping to get back in September, September 1st. And if we could leave tomorrow, since the strike seems to be over.”

Gina McKay, the president of CUPE Manitoba, says members have been reacting positively to the tentative agreement, which she says includes the “restoration of the eight-hour workday.”

“I think this is going to be precedent-setting all across Canada for contracts to come, but also to share with the labour movement the strength and power of unions that bring the voice of workers to the front line,” McKay said.

But passengers like Tiglao are still left to deal with the aftermath of flight cancellations, including trying to get refunds for travel and accommodations where they can.

“I’m just glad that my partner has a travel insurance and I hope that she could get a claim from that, but I think cases like this, sometimes they don’t consider,” he said.

Tiglao told CityNews after visiting Air Canada directly at the airport, they were able to extend his trip into September, but said the agent he spoke to said most flights are fully booked through the weekend.