By Ashley Legassic

Kamloops man slams Air Canada for failing to waive fees amid 737 controversy

Mar 12, 2019 | 11:02 AM

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — A Kamloops man is slamming Canadian airlines for allowing Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to continue flying, despite a crash in Africa that killed dozens on Sunday.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, but many countries including Australia, Italy and Netherlands have grounded the aircraft in the meantime as a precaution.

Grayden Flanagan is a local business owner and is currently in Palm Springs with his family. His daughter and her three friends flew from Montreal to California, but after the crash, Flanagan said he didn’t feel comfortable with his daughter being on a MAX 8 aircraft for the return flight.

“The biggest problem that we’ve seen is that we’ve been watching the story evolve ever since this crash happened in Africa. More and more airlines around the world, and countries, are actually banning the MAX 8 from flying in this airspace,” Flanagan said. 

He adds Air Canada wouldn’t waive the fees to switch his daughter to a different aircraft model.

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“When you’re watching the news and 75 per cent of the air space in the world is being shut down for this plane, as a parent I don’t know of any parent that would feel comfortable in putting their (child) onto a plane and saying ‘It’s okay’.”

Air Canada and Transportation Canada were not immediately available for comment, however WestJet did send an email response to CFJC Today:

“We are aware that guests may have questions and concerns surrounding their travel plans on a MAX and should they wish to make changes to their reservation, WestJet’s normal change/cancel policies will apply. WestJet remains actively involved in discussions with Transport Canada, Boeing and fellow Canadian operators of the Boeing MAX 737 aircraft and reassures our guests and employees that we will continue to fly with their safety and best interests at the forefront.”

According to the Canadian Press, Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the government currently has no plans to order the grounding of the plane, but said they will continue to evaluate the situation.

Those comments came within minutes of announcements from the U.K., Germany, France and Ireland that they were grounding or closing airspace to the new Boeing plane involved in the Ethiopian Airlines disaster.

The Canadian Press also reports that Flight Centre travel agency has said Canadian airlines are not waiving flight-change or cancellation fees for passengers who want to switch to another aircraft.

The Ethiopian Airlines crash killed all 157 people on board, including 18 Canadians. Last October, the same model of aircraft was involved in a Lion Air crash in Indoesia that killed 189 people.