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[Airband]

You don't tug on Superman's cape; you don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger...

Air Canada apologizes to national chief after flight crew took her headdress away

Airline says it's reviewing its policies following 'regrettable incident'

Fri Apr 26, 2024 - CBC News
by Arturo Chang

Air Canada says it's sorry after staff tried to stow away the headdress of the Assembly of First Nations' national chief in cargo storage before the departure of a flight Wednesday.

The company said in a statement Thursday it's apologizing to National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who said on social media Thursday she was forced to hand over a case containing the headdress that was with her in the plane's cabin.

"I won't be letting anyone take away my headdress or case again," Woodhouse Nepinak said in a public Facebook post, ahead of a different flight to Montreal.

"Air Canada needs a protocol for First Peoples so that we are not harassed for our sacred items. Our headdresses don't belong in [garbage] bags by airlines."

CBC News contacted Woodhouse Nepinak, but she was still in transit and wasn't ready to talk at length about the incident Thursday night.
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The national chief said staff wanted to put her headdress in cargo storage because there was no room in the cabin, and that the situation got tense. She said the flight crew threatened her staff, and other passengers stood up for her.

The case was put in a plastic bag, said Woodhouse Nepinak. The pilot came out and brought the case back after she complained, she said.

Woodhouse Nepinak said she normally travels with the headdress on her lap, or in carry-on storage.

Air Canada said in a statement it's reached out to the national chief to "better understand and apologize for her experience."

"Air Canada understands the importance of accommodating customers with items and symbols of sacred cultural significance, and in the past the chiefs have been able to travel while transporting their headdresses in the cabin," the statement said.

The airline added it's following up on the matter internally, and will be reviewing its policies after the "regrettable incident."

Incident 'unacceptable,' minister says

Federal Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez said what happened is "unacceptable" and the government "expects Air Canada to treat Indigenous customers with respect and promote better Indigenous cultural diversity."

Alvin Fiddler, grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, called out Air Canada on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, saying the incident was "shameful" and the company needs to ensure staff follow protocols on sacred items.

David Lametti, who was the federal justice minister when Canada adopted the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2021, told CBC News in an interview the incident left him "stunned."

"There aren't many chiefs across Canada who would have that kind of headdress," said Lametti, who now works as a lawyer specializing in Indigenous law.

"It is critically important that it be treated as a sacred object, and I don't understand why this would have been treated with anything less than the appropriate amount of dignity that it deserves."

Woodhouse Nepinak, from Pinaymootang First Nation in Manitoba, was elected national chief last December.

She received the headdress during a New Year's Day ceremony by the Blackfoot Confederacy of the Piikani Nation in Alberta for her national leadership and her work championing a historic settlement on Indigenous child welfare.

The Assembly of First Nations said in a release at that point that the headdress transfer is one of the "highest honours among First Nations ceremonies for leadership," and the eagle feathers that make up the headdress have been "blessed to help support leadership in their travels and challenges."

[st27]

A couple of things about the latest dumpster fire with AC…..and the media is loathe to tell all the story……was the crew just trying to comply with Transport Canada  rules…..the a/c wasn’t exactly a wide body, a Q400 I believe…what was the load? Could the headdress stay in an empty seat? But what gets lost in the story….

Quote

10 hours ago, Airband said:

The pilot came out and brought the case back after she complained, she said.

 

So somebody recognized that there was a problem developing around the situation and corrected the problem…..but all you hear in the press and national newscasts is the headdress being taken.

[Falken]

Nothing that a bit of cash won't settle. 

[Malcolm]

If have to wonder, what if the artifact had been a sacred weapon?  What weapons did Native Americans make with stone, wood, and other materials from nature before Europeans came to America? - Quora

Re the reason, the rules do specify what to do if the case would not fit into the very limited overhead or under the seat.  For safety, if the case could not be secured,  I am certain there could not be an exemption.

[Malcolm]

Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash

/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/4/30/air-canada-1-6867184-1714481312194.jpgAir Canada planes sit on the tarmac at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Megan DeLaire

CTVNews.ca Journalist

Follow |Contact

Published April 29, 2024 5:27 p.m. MDT

 

Air Canada has temporarily walked back its decision to charge a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares.

Under the old policy, customers with fares that didn't offer free seat selection prior to check-in would be randomly assigned a seat at the time of check-in, with the option to change that seat to another available seat for free.

However, some Air Canada customers received notices earlier this month stating the airline would soon charge passengers with standard or basic fares to change their automatically assigned seats during check-in.

 Facebook account belonging to Ontario-based travel agent Kerry Berlinquette shared an image(opens in a new tab) of a notice she received on April 18.

"We're introducing a new seating assignment process for Standard or Basic Fares," the notice reads.

"When customers enter the check-in flow, our system will automatically assign a seat free of charge for those who have not purchased a seat in advance … If they wish to change their automatically assigned seat, they can easily do so for a fee."

The notice, which stated the change would take effect April 24, triggered a wave of complaints by angry consumers on Facebook, X and Reddit.

So Air Canada can now split your party at their discretion to force you to spend money to ensure your party sits together. (Previously it was a safe gamble at 24 hours you could find seats together) pic.twitter.com/rTvxfVqqGy

— Steven Clark (@TheFwordNB) April 25, 2024

"That stinks. It was bad enough you had to fight for a seat 24 hours before flight. Just another money grabber," one Facebook user wrote in a comment on Berlinquette's post.

"It's frustrating when traditional airlines behave like budget airlines," a Reddit user wrote on April 24. "They have eliminated free checked baggage and now they have also removed the option of selecting seats for free during check-in. What will be next?"

I don’t know why everyone is mad at @AirCanada for introducing another junk fee. They have been trending towards the bottom end of the discount airline market since their last bailout. Their service, food, on time rating, cleanliness, and generally quality is horrible.

— Kritical Defiance (@KriticalDave) April 25, 2024

Following some of the backlash, Air Canada issued a statement(opens in a new tab) to airline industry news website Pax News clarifying the policy change.

"What has changed, and is consistent with our branded fares, is that after seats are assigned at check-in for no fee, customers who now wish to change to a different seat from the one we assigned them will have to pay the same fee they would have paid prior to check-in," the airline wrote to Pax News, which reported the airline would continue to assign seats to ensure families on the same booking are seated together for no fee, as per Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations.

"This is the practice at other airlines, including some in Canada."

However, by April 26, Air Canada had paused the new fee. The flag carrier would not confirm whether consumer backlash had influenced the decision and declined to answer questions by CTVNews.ca about why it had introduced the fee and how long the pause would last.

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"We paused the implementation for operational reasons to ensure a smooth rollout for our customers and employees," a spokesperson, who did not provide a name, wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Monday.

"We will communicate next steps at the appropriate time."

Air Canada would not be the first Canadian carrier to charge a fee for seat selection after check-in. However, the airlines that charge a seat selection fee, such as Flair and Porter, tend to be low-cost carriers that offer more affordable base fares than Canada's flag carrier.

One exception is WestJet, Canada's second largest carrier after Air Canada, which also charges a fee for seat selection.