An Air Canada customer is expressing his disappointment with the airline's customer service after dealing with a long airport delay that he says cost him hundreds of dollars. His story serves as a warning to passengers dealing with flight cancellations outside an airline’s control.

Varun Sriskanda says that he, his parents, and his wife were visiting New Jersey for a family wedding. They were supposed to fly back home to Toronto from Newark Liberty International Airport on September 2 via Air Canada.

"We [arrived] at the airport, and they started delaying the flight, first by an hour and then eventually by another hour," Sriskanda said in an interview. "So we're sitting at the gate, and it just keeps getting delayed further and further out."

Eventually, the flight was cancelled altogether, leaving Sriskanda's family and other passengers with nowhere to go.

Was Air Canada to blame?

The Toronto-based property management company owner said that what made the situation strange was that, before the flight was cancelled, Air Canada had checked all his family’s bags at no cost.

"They took all five of my bags and were like, 'yeah, no problem. We'll take care of you this time.' And I'm like, 'Oh, that's great.' And then it hit me that they knew the flight would get cancelled," Sriskanda theorized.

"They took all my bags at no cost because they knew they were just going to take [them] off the plane."

Sriskanda added that Air Canada informed passengers that the cancellation wasn't due to an issue with the airline but instead with the airport, as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had ordered a ground stop in Newark due to "radar difficulties." That would mean this cancellation was outside of Air Canada's control.

FAA equipment outages have caused #EWR Airport flight disruptions. Please check with your airline to determine the status of your flight.

— Newark Liberty International Airport (@EWRairport) September 2, 2024

Air Canada confirmed this over email. Newark Airport also posted about the flight disruptions on its X account, noting FAA equipment issues.

"Encouraging us to sleep at the airport"

Sriskanda understood that Air Canada wasn't to blame for the delay, but he expected a better response from the airline to accommodate passengers.

He posted about his experience on X.

He says that the Air Canada representative at the gate was asking people to hang tight and telling them about restaurants and places to wait at the airport.

"They basically were encouraging us to sleep at the airport, and everyone was just an uproar," he said.

"Like, absolutely not. At a very minimum, if you're not going to put us up in a hotel, give us a voucher for food, right?" he stated. However, he said the representative informed him they didn't have the "power to do that," and that customers had to contact corporate.

This is par for the course with Air Canada, I try to find an alternative carrier now whenever possible. Porter has so far been way better than AC or WS.

— Hugues Mackay (@mackayhfx) September 4, 2024

Eventually, he decided to get an Uber and book a hotel for his family for the night. He estimates he spent over $1,200 on accommodation, transportation, and food for his family during the delay.

Sriskanda said he spoke with an Air Canada corporate representative about compensation but was directed to the airline's website to file a claim instead.

"I know the service is there that you can apply for compensation, but I also know getting compensation is a whole other task," said the disgruntled passenger.

He added that some folks commented on his X thread about their struggle to get money from the airline after experiencing similar delays.

It took 2 years to get compensation?!

— Varun Sriskanda (@VarunSriskanda) September 3, 2024

"Basically, you've got to write it off in your head because you don't think you're ever going to recover this money," he says.

Eventually, Sriskanda says Air Canada rebooked him on a new flight that left a day later on September 3.

According to air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs, while Sriskanda did spend $1,200 on accommodation, food, and hotels for the delay, the airline did its due diligence.

What to know about compensation

Understandably, flight delays and cancellations are irritating and stressful, but Lukacs noted that there are particular instances when passengers are eligible for compensation and other situations when they are not.

He explained that a sudden incident — such as airport equipment issues — outside of Air Canada's control would require the airline to rebook the passenger on the next available flight on its network or a partner network that leaves within 48 hours of the original departure time.

If this is not possible, the airline must provide a refund or make alternative travel arrangements free of charge.

Lukacs said that if Air Canada rebooked within this timeframe, passengers would not be owed compensation under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).

In Sriskanda's case, the airline rebooked him on another Air Canada flight within 24 hours, which means he likely won't see that $1,200 return to his pocket.

If Air Canada did not follow through with rebooking within 48 hours, the airline would have "breached its contractual obligations" and would also be responsible for covering the cost of the passenger's meals and accommodations, noted Lukacs.

Air Canada spambot adds to confusion

Sriskanda is also warning fellow customers about spam airline representatives.

After he posted about his experience, he said he received a WhatsApp call from someone claiming to be from Air Canada.

He said someone had initially messaged him on X, appearing to be an authentic Air Canada customer service account that wanted to connect.

Someone called me from @AirCanada claiming they can give me an $800 credit for me to book a hotel.

Turned out to be a scam. pic.twitter.com/8z9cx4nbWl

— Varun Sriskanda (@VarunSriskanda) September 3, 2024

"I didn't notice that there were two extra letters at the end of their user handle," he says. The account asked for Sriskanda's phone number, which he provided, but when they called, he quickly noticed this was not an authentic Air Canada representative.

Air Canada says that it has posted an alert on its website notifying customers of several social media accounts impersonating the airline.

"These accounts pretend to be Air Canada, and some purporting to be Air Canada will respond to customers," said a representative via email.

"We advise people to ensure they are only communicating with the official @AirCanada account on social media before sharing any personal information, including about travel itineraries, etc."

We have contacted Air Canada for further comment about compensation for passengers.