Air Canada 866 from Montreal to London faced a further delay on Monday night when 25 passengers were removed. Many of those passengers claim they did nothing wrong. So what really happened onboard?
Why Were So Many Passengers Kicked Off Air Canada 866?
Here are the pieces of the puzzle we must try to put together:
- AC866 from Montreal (YUL) to London (LHR) departed late on Monday, June 20, 2022
- 25 passengers were removed
- Those passengers were apparently not told why they were removed until after leaving the plane
- In the terminal, they were told they were removed for either failing to wear their mask or appearing to be drunk
- Many of those passengers, including a pregnant woman and senior citizens, denied they had been drinking or worn their mask improperly
- The captain told the aircraft the passengers had been removed for “security reasons” and for “not following airport instructions”
- Air Canada decided the following morning to rebook at least some of the passengers
- Air Canada has also promised an investigation, noting some passengers may have been improperly removed
- One passenger blamed a “power tripping” purser on Instagram for claiming people were drunk who were not
A Horrible Ending For One Couple
Here’s how one couple, Richard Brailey, 71, and wife Patricia, 66, described being removed:
“We wore our masks all the time in the airport and on the plane after we went on board. The only contact we had with the stewards was when they welcomed us in the normal way. We had waited for about an hour for the plane to take off when a member of staff with a list of numbers came along looking up and down the rows.
“They started looking at the seat numbers and earlier removed two young girls from three or four rows in front of us. Then they pointed at us, and told the police with them to remove us. We were totally flabbergasted. We had just been sitting in our seats normally with our masks on and looking forward to getting underway.
“The chap who was sitting next to us was also ordered to leave. He had a blanket over himself and was asleep, but was woken up and told to get off. We were in total shock. I was assuming there must have been a problem with the paperwork or something. I was asking what it was all about and if I could speak to the Captain, but I was told that I would find out later. It was a nightmare scenario.
“It was utterly bizarre because there was no noise or aggravation on the flight. As far as I could tell everyone was behaving properly, and we certainly were. We were taken off at the same time as three members of the Williams Formula 1 team who had friends left on board.
“What really annoyed us was the lack of communications and nobody telling us anything as we were led back into the terminal. We had to find our ow way back to Departures and this woman came down to say that we may have been thrown off for alcohol abuse, not wearing masks or failing to obey regulations.
“It was all rubbish because we had done absolutely nothing wrong. We asked her for evidence but she could not give any. Nobody was drunk, and we were not aware of anyone abusing anyone or failing to obey instructions. We were treated as if we were terrorists. Air Canada appeared to wash their hands of us. We were not offered a hotel or food. We tried three hotels, but all were fully booked and we had to stay in the terminal.
“Our son booked us the new flights for £1,300 because we thought we did not have any other way to get back home. In the end that money was wasted because Air Canada changed their minds and put us on different flights back home.”
The couple are now seeking compensation, including the money for their new Air Transat tickets they did not use. They vehemently deny they were drunk or failed to wear their mask properly onboard. Other passengers, like Jess McFadyen, back their account:
— Jess McFadyen (@JessMcF1) June 21, 2022
Was Our N95 Not Good Enough?
Another couple, Josh Slatkoff and his wife Tara Sharpe, were removed and later told it had been for the same reason. They also were not drinking and claimed to be wearing their masks properly. Slatkoff told the CBC:
“We showed our masks, N95s, and I said to her, ‘Does this look like the kind of mask someone would wear if they were refusing to wear a mask?'”
Slatkoff also noted that they observed no “rowdy” people on the airplane.
Air Canada Takes Cautious Approach In Response
Air Canada has taken a cautious approach, noting that it is investigating the matter as well as the allegations that some passengers may not have been properly removed.
“We are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident involving a group of 25 customers who were removed from our flight from Montreal to London Monday night, due to disruptive behaviour.
“We understand that there are allegations that in the course of removing these passengers, certain unrelated individuals were deplaned as well.
“Some of these deplaned customers were rebooked this morning and are on their way to their final destination. Once our investigation is completed, we will follow up with the customers.”
Other passengers removed included a pregnant woman and a young family of four.
CONCLUSION
This an odd case that appears to be an overreaction to what might have been misbehavior from a smaller number of passengers, though at this point I am willing to let the investigation continue and wait for more witnesses to come out. Thus far, however, every witness has backed up the assertion that Air Canada removed passengers who did nothing wrong. If it does turn out to be an overzealous purser, as one passenger on the flight alleged, I hope that purser is reassigned to a non-customer-facing role.
The chief steward was on a power trip! She made out like people were kicking off or getting drunk. Full lies!
Shocking treatment of many people on AC866 https://t.co/9OkO90Jo65
— Jay (@jayegan) June 21, 2022
Were you on this flight? Let us know in the comments section below.
I had read somewhere else that it was a weight and balance issue becuase of some “special” cargo in one of the holds.
The booted passengers also had their personal items left on the plane EG passports/wallets/etc which caused some issues back in the UK.
Either way, just one more reason to not go out of my way to fly AC.
I assume that they could apply for an emergency passport based on the original being STOLEN by Air Canada, or lost.
I have been reading this appalling case for some time. I feel very sorry indeed for those passengers involved. I hope that everything was resolved, especially the travel arrangements and being reunited with personal possessions. Moreover, I hope Air Canada put their hands deep in to their pockets and made propper compensation.
The suggestion that there was a weight issue seems very plausible, supported by the fact that passengers were thrown off by seat number, rather than by name. I wonder if those ejected were all from a specific area of the aircraft corresponding to a heavy item in the hold below. Since Air Canada claimed an ‘safety issue’ it gave them justification to involve the authorities as well as absolving them from making immediate alternative travel arrangements and accommodation.
3rd world…..you know the word.
Not at all a surprise. Canadians have not taken Covid seriously since the very beginning. Once they learn how to behave, then these incidents will stop happening.
I agree. Those Canadians need to learn how to behave.
What an absolutely asinine generalization to make. Canada doesn’t rank in the top twenty countries in the world by total number of cases or mortality rate. The US, by way of example, has a mortality rate nearly 3x Canada’s. Your interaction with some small subset of the population isn’t sufficient to draw any meaningful conclusions from.
Oh look, more airline peeps hiding behind Covid in an attempt to make/save $. What a SHOCK.
Were all 25 Jewish?
It happened on two seperate flights going from Montreal to london heathrow which departed 2 hours apart, both claiming the false alligations of drinking duty free alcohol on the plane and improper mask wearing, they where alsotold that they couldnt us Air canada to get home and where kicked back to the departure area and left, with no imformation on there bag that hadnt been removed and how they could retrieve them.
Both flight had the same amout of people removed, which suggest that they were big things happening which air canada either wanted to hide or knew they had bigger issues
Air Canada is using “security reasons” for not being able to operate the airline according to Canadian law. On a recent trip to Europe from Los Angeles, on several occasions I was treated like a criminal for asking to get on my ticketed plane and then intentionally given contradictory misinformation by land and air staff. Unfortunately, I have no way to get out of the return ticket except switch most of my traveling to Lufthansa flights. As a well seasoned traveler, I would never recommend flying this airline again. I guess I’ll count myself lucky the plane didn’t fall out of the sky, since they could barely operate any other function on the ground including my luggage which showed up a week later.
Hope there is a follow up on this. Completely bizarre.
Seconded. I’ve flown AC a few times on TATLs these few months and often before the pandemic. Never had an issue (except the odd delay), always curteous and prompt service aboard….
@Stuart: Relax!!! Get a Covid booster and all will be good. I live in the US. Why do I need to go to any of the two border countries? They are the ones that want to come here.
Listen up folks, I have a great idea for a joke. Stuart, Santastico, and Dave Edwards walk into a bar. Can you help me finish it?
And I walk out alone with a smile.
Always un-checking the Air Canada box in my flight search results these days until the COVID insanity wears off up there.
Kayak even offers me “Hide Air Canada” now since I uncheck it so often.
They are Canadians. Five minutes in the penalty box, let them back on the plane and head to London.
LOL
Ohhhh Canada!!! When you have what you have as Prime Minister you shouldn’t expect anything different. Keep the masks on!!!!
Let me guess, “you have a friend there who told you never to come because it has turned into a third world gang war.”
That’s a fact- just look at Trudeau’s handling of the trucker strike.
Incels like you just can’t function in a society of thinking adults, eh? Must be a lonely island…..
Having flown through Montreal a couple of times, I was shocked at just how nasty and obnoxious the airport and AC staff seemed to be there. Really authoritarian and rude. And pretty incompetent too. Yes, Pearson can be hit or miss and Calgary too – but nothing like YUL.
Also, haven’t the canucks gotten the memo yet that masks don’t do squat for you aside from increasing your blood CO2 levels? Reminds me of the train I recently took from Germany to NL where the conductor yelled at me for taking my mask off to eat something, but as soon as we crossed the border into the NL we were all told we could remove the masks (which everyone did). It’s all theatre.
The following quote is absolutely hilarious
“”He had a blanket over himself and was asleep, but was woken up and told to get off.”
Recently flew Air Canada – this was definitely not my experience, but I can confirm that the delays were ridiculous length in Montreal and crossing the US border in Toronto took 90 min (I have global entry). This just seems like the case of some VERY overworked flight attendants (on my flight from montreal to europe, one of the FAs said she had been in double time pay for the entire week)
Let’s cut the flight crew some slack. We all make mistakes sometimes.
Ah, the reagan right wing business apologist in the house…
Since the passengers were already seated and purportedly doing nothing wrong, should they instead have refused to leave and let the police drag them off whilst being filmed so they could settle w/ AirCanada for big $$? See Mr. Dao.
This is absolutely unheard of …
I tend to think that this was a monumental screw up by Air Canada and they already know it. That you would have a large group of totally intranets people being disruptive and a plane with a bunch of F1 media types doesn’t even notice this defies belief.
I think the link below likely gets it right. Almost certainly this was a weight and a balance issue that was handled very very poorly.
Which also begs an interesting question. In the US we are required to have 100% positive bag match on international flights. Which means if I order a customer removed from an international flight for any reason their bags both checked and carry on MUST be removed as well. And yet this flight went London with BOTH onboard causing an incident when it landed. Does Canada not follow the same rules?
So why not tell pax the truth? Why not make sure they have a hotel and food? Most people will be happy with a logical explanation. Can’t guarantee what a maga crowd would do…..
Oops forgot the link.
https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2022/06/23/air-canada-threw-25-people-off-a-london-bound-flight-but-the-real-reason-was-lost-in-translation/
I’ve always wondered why an airline kicks passengers off a flight for bad behavior or inappropriate clothing and then offers them a flight the next day. Is the idea they’d be less drunk or have taken a shower or stopped praying in public?
I really hope this issue is Not swept away. The truth needs to be shared. The Crew need to be questioned as well. Someone screwed up and they take no responsibility for it. Is this a Contract year for AC? Got be coming up soon!!
Masking requirements have authoritarian Canadian airline and airport personnel on a horrible power trip and will continue to do much damage to decent people until that nonsense is rubbished as its been in almost every other civilized country.
Maybe F1 should make a big deal out of this and pull the GP from Canada
There is no shortage of places wanting to host a race
I was on this flight. Not one person who was removed was rowdy or disruptive or refusing to wear a mask. The flight was already delayed 2 hours before we finally boarded and got settled. The flight attendants handed out the earbuds and dimmed the lights. Passengers were settling down to sleep on the already delayed red eye to London when suddenly the lights came back on. Armed police entered the plane, and an Air Canada employee came on board with a list of seat numbers (not passenger names). He removed the entire 3 rows of passengers in front of my husband and me, in addition to random other passengers throughout the plane. The armed police waited at each row until each person left the plane. The removed passengers were told that they had “not followed the rules” and the “captain did not want them on the flight”. It was absolutely horrible and one of the scariest situations I have been in. My children were also there and witnessed it. It scared them and made them very upset. To further delay an already delayed flight for this was awful of Air Canada to do. And then to read the stories of how the passengers were treated after being removed makes the whole thing even worse. I hope those passengers who were removed get compensation from Air Canada for their troubles. They should also sue for defamation because Air Canada basically made them look like terrorists in front of the entire plane.
Appreciate your comment. Thanks for taking the time to share about your experience.
Operationally Air Canada is struggling. I was on a AC flight from LAX to YYZ last week. All flights out of LAX were delayed due to delays in YYZ on the outbound leg. Part of this, from reports, is due to stretched immigration staff in YYZ, but ACs staff is clearly spread way too thin. On my return flight Saturday, I saw a AC gate agent scream at another agent because of stress..
This most recent issue, aside from the possible miscommunication between “unruly and overweight”, happened because overall operations for AC are a mess. There is clearly a lack of leadership and accountability.
ALL airlines need to bring their operations in line. Cut schedules, and get back providing a responsible and trusted service.
I was on this flight, and it was the craziest and scariest thing i I have ever experienced in air travel. The people that were removed were not in violation of any rules and hadn’t been warned of any possible infractions. I believe the theory that this was a weight and balance issue gone horribly wrong makes a lot of sense. Everyone was settled in their seats and the crew had handed out headphones and dimmed the cabin lights in preparation for departure. Then all of a sudden the lights were back on and several police in tactical gear were on board and being directed by a CA employee with a handwritten list of seat assignments, no names. They went row by row telling folks they needed to get off the plane. 9 people in 3 consecutive center section rows were removed near me. It was shocking to witness and made everyone on board wonder if they were going to be next. They were told they had violated the rules and the captain had requested they be removed from the flight and that more would be explained when they got to the gate. Once all were removed the cabin door was closed and we departed. The announcement provided no clarification, just restated they were removed for violating the rules. I doubt anyone that was on board this flight believes that is true. I look back wishing i had taken some video or pictures to prove how ridiculous the entire situation was and help the victims that became stranded in Montreal for no reason. I do have my boarding pass that I have posted to this photo album. I redacted my details to avoid retaliation, but want to do all I can to help these people and shed light on this.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0RGfnH8tGSPIT2
Thanks! Something weird is going on. Maybe Spiderman finding his way home?
Maybe the purser hates Air Canada and wants to make trouble, not caring if he/she harms passengers while trying to harm Air Canada?
Canada seems to be going the way of an authoritarian government. Look how they acted during Covid. Maybe a Lawyer might be helpful in this situation.
As an Expat Canadian, I’ve seen some weird seasonal things with the cops in Quebec, Canada, must be the heat and temperamental weather.
Police are not the good guys unless they are your guys. Conservatives are uneducated to support the police who enforce liberal laws and follow orders here. In the first place, no one should be removed for not wearing a mask. I
Secondly, no one should be removed on the word of one flight attendant or pursuer. Conservatives only goal should be to replace cops with conservatives who won’t do what these ones did.
There should be an investigation by an outside party and if it turns out the pursuer disrupted flight operations and commercial transport by making false statements to the police, he or she should be criminally prosecuted. There are multiple witnesses who contradict any statement that masks were not worn or people were drunk. That is enough to prove any flight attendant or pursuer statement was false and fraudulent.
Right on! Get these libruls outta hear! We need a conservative police force that will advance the conservative agenda and jail all those radical libs. We can call them the gazpacho!
Looks like Jackson Watetstone had a sex change. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Because they have horrible customer service, and zero accountability, that’s why. I will NEVER fly Air Canada again. Those incompetent a holes, left my husband and I stranded in Toronto. Their screw up. Aircraft was late landing, then delayed at the gate. We missed out connection to DFW. No hotels available, no help. We finally booked passage home on another airline. To add insult, they lost our luggage. I literally just got it (9 days later). The flight attendant had the nerve to say “it’s not us, it’s the airport.” No, sugar, it’s your company’s fault. I paid them a fee for a service. I expect that service performed, or compensation given. Then she tried to say it was weather related, Um, no again, as I work in the aviation industry and pulled up foreFlight……. No weather, no notices, nothing! Even ATL was clear! Poorly handled. Never again!
What kind of authority does the Captain have in this situation? He should have the ultimate authority to let the passengers stay or leave (unless he made some kind of decision already). In any case, show me the Lawsuit Money.
“I hope that purser is reassigned to a non-customer-facing role”
How about fired?
I flew Montreal to CDG the next day (21 st June) on Air Canada . At 7 pm there were already delays on the majority of flight departures . Only two flights were noted as being on time. After pretences of no pilot crew followed by no ground crew we spent two hours on the tarmac and thus joined the general delay of two hours. I can only assume major problems exist at Montreal .Why xoh why cannot they not tell the truth.
I feel bad for those passengers and sad about what this does to Air Canada’s reputation. As to the statement “Conservatives only goal should be to replace cops with conservatives who won’t do what these ones did.”, that is indeed an asinine remark.
I am thinking more and more reading the comments above from those on the flight that this was all a huge misunderstanding. The idea of the term “violating the rules” somehow got lost in translation. It seems to me that this was simply the pilots saying “we are violating the rules as to weight and balance” and a game of telephone ensued. By the time it reached operations and then gate agents the whole thing broke down into thinking that passengers were violating the rules. I am not excusing this at all, it’s really bizarre and someone messed up in the chain of communication. But it seems to be the only reason this could have ever occurred.
This does not sound like telephone tag. Even if it were miscommunication, that evinces a problem with Air Canada if they can’t issue accurate communications on a problem of this magnitude.
This smell to me like a cultural problem within Air Canada:
1. They think its OK to lie (to passengers, to the press, to police?)
2. They think its OK to mistreat passengers.
They need a major personnel scrub, starting with the CEO and head of operations, and then HR and give HR the authority to screen for service-oriented personnel in all customer-facing positions. (They might be able to save the CEO and head of operations if they fire everyone involved in decision-making and communications around this fiasco — the Board needs to send a clear message to the troops system-wide.)
PS. The current CEO started in that job in 2021. His background is in accounting. Maybe he changed the focus to profits at the price of customer service. He’s the first person I would remove.
He should also learn French.
It was about them not wearing masks, pure and simple. If you look at the words they even say they weren’t wearing them all the time. https://neveratruerword.substack.com/p/air-canada-confusion-are-the-passengers
If it was a weight and balance issue, the captain should also be held liable for these people’s distress, anxiety and inconvenience and he should be sued for his bad decision; On top of the million dollar Lawsuit that Air Canada should face. I hope they get compensated in a Lawsuit.
I am going to Canada in a few weeks and was going to fly. Just cancelled my reservation and will drive instead. Easier & cheaper.
Oh, is this a Kampala to Kinshasa flight, or? Oh, sorry I now see it is Air Canada!! Can’t wait to hear more about this 3rd world scandal.
Wow, look at that flight history. There must be something really systemic going on to have the same flight delayed 2 to 3 hours almost every day of the past two weeks. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA866