A Fredericton man is upset with Air Canada after he said his sister’s ashes were spilled on a flight from Toronto to Fredericton.
Josh Rideout was transporting his mother’s and sister’s remains home from Victoria, B.C. in March and was on his last connecting flight when he said a flight attendant told him he couldn’t keep his backpack containing two urns underneath his seat.
Rideout said his mother passed away in December and was living in Victoria. He said his sister passed away several years ago but her remains were kept at his mother’s B.C. home.
Rideout said he called Air Canada ahead of time to find out how to transport his loved ones’ remains and was told he could bring them in the cabin.
“I called ahead to ask them what I should do regarding these urns, and that’s when they said: ‘put them in a carry-on. You can bring them on the plane and as soon as you check them through security, no one will bother you about them,'” Rideout said.
He said he took two other fights and had no issues with storing the bag under his seat but on his final flight to Fredericton he said the flight attendant demanded he move the bag from under his seat.
Rideout said when the plane landed, the flight attendant didn’t come out from behind the curtain. He said he never saw anyone bring the bag out and found it sitting on the floor.
“All I know is that when I picked the bag up, these granules and stuff were already coming out of my bag,” Rideout said.
Without saying anything, he said he got off the plane in shock and went into the airport to collect his bag. He said his checked bag was lost and he dealt with that before heading home. He said he was picked up by his father and as soon as he got home he called the airline.
“Had they just done what they said they’d do in the beginning and just let me take care of my family and take care of these remains, none of this would have ever happened because I would not have let this happen,” Rideout said.
He said he initially wanted to be reimbursed for his flight but was told the airline doesn’t give refunds. He said they did however offer him a voucher worth more than his original flight. Rideout said he would have liked a sincere apology, but only received an email.
“In the beginning, it should have been a sincere apology, you know what I mean? Maybe even in person, not through a heartless email.”
He said he wants to make sure something like this doesn’t happen to anyone else and is unsure what his next step will be.
Airline response
In an email statement to Global News, a spokesperson for Jazz Aviation, which operates flights between Toronto and Fredericton on behalf of Air Canada under the Air Canada Express brand, said the situation is being taken seriously. The spokesperson said they have followed up with the crew member and said it’s an “unfortunate situation.”
“Mr. Rideout travelled on two different aircraft types on his journey from Victoria to Vancouver and from Toronto to Fredericton – the Dash 8-300 (Victoria-Vancouver) and the Q400 (Toronto-Fredericton). While similar, in fact there is a difference in the size of the space under the seats of these two aircraft types,” wrote the spokesperson. “Please keep in mind that, for the safety of all passengers on board, flight attendants follow Transport Canada’s safety regulations for the storage of carry-on luggage. Unfortunately, a bag that partially fits under the seat is not acceptable according to these rules and must be stowed elsewhere in the cabin or placed in the cargo hold as checked baggage.”
The statement said the bag containing the urns didn’t fit under the seat in front of him and he was “unfortunately unable to keep his carry-on luggage” at his seat.
“To ensure the safe storage of Mr. Rideout’s carry-on baggage, knowing what it meant to him, the flight attendant offered to stow the oversized bag in the closet at the front of the aircraft instead of gate checking it,” the spokesperson said.
“This is undoubtedly a very upsetting situation and an Air Canada Customer Relations representative has had exchanges with Mr. Rideout.”
Comments