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A group of teenage scouts heading to the Yukon for a long-planned camping trip ended up deploying their sleeping bags on the YVR floor after their Air Canada flight was canceled .
A group of Quebec scouts spent Saturday night sleeping at YVR’s B26 gate after their connecting flight to Whitehorse was delayed and canceled, and then canceled again for the next few years. days. The group of 20 teenagers, including Ludovick St-Pierre (front), and their group leaders spent the past three years planning a week-long trip to the Yukon. Photo by photo sent / jpg
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A scout group of 20 teens and two adult leaders heading from Quebec for a long-planned Yukon camping trip were caught in Vancouver when Air Canada began a massive cancellation of summer flights.
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Instead of arriving in Whitehorse on Saturday, they threw sleeping bags to crash overnight on the ground at YVR Gate B26 after their flight was delayed and then canceled after their connecting flight to Toronto from Quebec City.
They thought there would be a flight on Sunday, but woke up to find that there would not be at least one until Wednesday evening.
“We didn’t sleep well, so the energy level is a little lower than yesterday, but we’re trying to keep a smile on,” said Sophie Labrecque, 16, who is part of Poste Sagarmatha-Mahikan’s listening. . group.
William Isabel (pink shirt), Laurence L’Homme and Amelie Tremblay, traveling with their Quebec scout group, spent Saturday night sleeping at YVR’s B26 gate after their connecting flight to Whitehorse was it was delayed and canceled, and then canceled again over the next few days. . They are part of a group of 20 teenagers and their group leaders who have spent the past three years planning a week-long trip to the Yukon. Photo by photo sent / jpg
Other people on the trip, such as 14-year-old Ludovick St-Pierre, also helped bring the group together as adult organizers pressured Air Canada representatives for better options.
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Naturally, they hesitated to leave the airport without reasonable alternative plans.
After not being able to find flights to Calgary or Edmonton, they tried to rent two vans even though that would mean a 28-hour trip from Vancouver to Whitehorse.
“We don’t want to have a chance to wait three days for our flight and then be postponed or canceled,” Labrecque said of the reasoning.
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Since their largest backpacks for the trip were checked in, they only had their suitcases in hand.
“We had the idea to put our sleeping bags in our little bags, so that was the best idea we had,” St-Pierre said.
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The listening group plans and saves to make a big trip like this every three years. They had dreamed of reaching the Arctic Circle.
Air Canada gave them each voucher for $ 10 to eat, so they went back and forth to the Tim Hortons and the kiosk.
Last week, Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau announced in an email to customers that he will have to cancel more than 150 flights a day in July and August due to “unprecedented and unforeseen tensions “in the global aviation industry.
“Despite detailed and careful planning, the largest and fastest scale of procurement in our history, as well as investments in aircraft and equipment, it is now clear that Air Canada’s operations have also been disrupted by complexes and inevitable challenges for the industry, ”Rousseau said. .
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It occurs when airlines in Europe and the United States also cancel hundreds of flights in the same way that people feel like traveling again after COVID-19 blockades prevent them from going on vacation.
The teens kept in touch with their families, who kept the situation of uncertainty in perspective.
The children are happy to live an adventure together and the parents trust the group’s organizers, said Mathieu Robitaille and Rachel Corbeil, whose daughter Noemie, 16, is traveling.
However, they were outraged by Air Canada’s initial indifference and are still concerned about the possibility of the group arriving in Whitehorse just to cancel the return flights.
“They said everything was booked, so they couldn’t arrange anything more than asking them for permission to sleep at the airport,” Robitaille said. “How’s that for premium customer service !? What the hell can you do with $ 10 to eat at an airport?”
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On Sunday afternoon, St-Pierre said they could not rent vans and Air Canada offered to host the group at a Vancouver hotel for the next few days. They will visit and return to YVR on Wednesday night. There was also talk of the possibility of a flight on Monday.
The group is scheduled to return home to Quebec from Whitehorse on Sunday, July 10th.
“If our flight doesn’t work, we will ask for a refund and return to Quebec or ask to sleep in a hotel on the last days of our trip,” he added.
jlee-young@postmedia.com
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