The YYC Calgary International Airport has posted a public apology to its passengers after a decision to change its accessible parking stall locations spurred concerns.
“YYC Calgary International Airport would like to apologize to our passengers impacted by the decision to change the location of the accessible parking stalls at the airport; it is clearly out of touch with our commitment to being an accessible facility,” said the airport in a statement on its website Aug. 21.
The airport came under fire after turning accessible spaces to Lexus-only spots as part of a marketing campaign that saw the Lexus logo and “reserved parking” painted on the ground of stalls that used to be reserved for people living with disabilities.
YYC also apologized to Lexus Canada, explaining the Calgary Airport Authority was solely responsible for selecting the stalls for the campaign.
“Lexus Canada did not play a role in selecting, and was not aware of, the locations for the campaign,” the airport’s statement said.
The airport said it hopes to make it up to passengers by reviewing policies to make sure it doesn’t lose sight of the importance of accessibility to passengers moving forward.
“YYC Calgary International Airport will be returning the accessible stalls to their original location ASAP and the additional accessible stalls that were added will remain in place.”
Lexus Canada also apologized to anyone who was affected or offended. A spokesperson said it will more carefully scrutinize marketing campaigns in the future.
WATCH: Jody Moseley from the Calgary Airport Authority apologizes for turning accessible parking into Lexus-only spots.
“We were truly embarrassed by this mistake,” said Michael Bouliane, manager of corporate communications for the car company.
“It shouldn’t have happened and we are taking steps to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
With files from Global’s Reid Fiest and The Canadian Press
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