Travelers who got the nasty surprise at Pearson Airport over the weekend as flights to Winnipeg were repeatedly postponed were forced to sleep on the floor on yoga mats provided by Air Canada.
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Several passengers on flights scheduled to depart for Winnipeg on Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. told CBC News of their mishap.
Among them, Fatima Sherafa, a 17-year-old woman, told national television that her flight, which was scheduled for 3 p.m., had been repeatedly pushed back to midnight when it was eventually cancelled.
However, instead of receiving food vouchers and hotel accommodation, passengers had to settle for yoga mats provided by Air Canada to spend the night on the ground at Pearson Airport, she claimed.
Other passengers on that flight and a second canceled flight also told CBC they received no compensation, except for yoga mats to sleep at the airport.
“We called five or six hotels and they were all full. […] Everyone was just down,” said Julie Yumin, who assured that company employees were handing out mats when asked if there was any possibility of having beds to sleep on.
Air Canada has been hit hard by staff shortages and the resumption of service, two phenomena that forced the company to cancel thousands of flights in July and August.