An airline that evicted at least 25 people off a flight to Heathrow without explaining why has acknowledged that some of the people were “mistakenly removed.”
According to Air Canada, some customers were escorted off the plane by company crew and armed police even though they had done nothing wrong.
Officials are said to be in contact with the uninvolved passengers to apologize for the error and to consider potential compensation.
However, the airline is still insisting that other passengers were kicked from the flight for “disruptive behavior,” which included failing to put on masks as required by anti-Covid regulations.
As the aircraft waited to take off for Heathrow late on Monday night at Montreal airport, it declined to say how many passengers had been improperly asked to disembark.
On Wednesday, MailOnline published a story about how customers who were peacefully seated in their seats were informed they had to leave without being given a reason.
A retired British couple who were on vacation and support personnel from Formula One teams who were in Montreal for the Grand Prix were among those impacted.
All of the travelers stated that they had followed the regulations by donning masks and that they had done nothing wrong.
Others on the flight stated that no one had been breaching any regulations or acting in a belligerent or intoxicated manner.
Initially, Air Canada stated that “a group of 25 customers” had been kicked off the flight “due to disruptive behavior” and that it was looking into claims that other, “unrelated persons” had also been kicked off.
However, the airline acknowledged in a statement provided to MailOnline that the problem stemmed from the use of masks and that some of the passengers shouldn’t have been inconvenienced.
“Our general policy is to not discuss incidents of disruptive behavior onboard our aircraft,” the statement read.
“However, we can confirm that the deplaning of passengers from flight AC866 on June 20 was due to non-compliance with Canadian government mask regulations, Canadian Aviation Regulations, as well as directives of our crew.”
The decisions made were made with the other 266 passengers on the flight’s safety and welfare in mind.
“We regret the unfortunate deplaning of certain passengers who were not involved.” Since then, we have apologized and addressed the concerns of people who we believe were unintentionally deleted.
A representative for the Williams F1 team said: “We confirm that four of our employees, including a pregnant employee, were removed from an Air Canada flight on Monday evening that was scheduled to travel from Montreal to London.”
There were a total of 28 people kicked off the flight, and we are waiting on an explanation from Air Canada since we don’t think there was a reason to kick our employees off.
Williams Racing made sure that its employees had transportation and lodging as they awaited being rebooked into another flight. We can confirm that everyone has returned to the UK safely, and we are awaiting word from Air Canada.
On their way home from a four-week campervan vacation across Canada, retired surveyor Richard Brailey, 71, and his wife Patricia, 66, from Hertfordshire, were abruptly asked to leave the plane.
Patrick Brailey, the couple’s son, confirmed to MailOnline today that an apology call from Air Canada staff had been made to his parents. Discussions on an explanation and compensation are still ongoing, he continued.
Mr. and Mrs. Brailey were removed from the aircraft without being given a reason at the time, but later learned from airline employees in the airport that they might have been kicked off for being intoxicated or not wearing masks.
They were puzzled because they had not drunk and had been sitting in their seats with masks on all the time waiting for the plane to take off.
Mr. Brailey stated that he had not observed any other passengers acting inappropriately or disobeying flight attendant orders.
He and his wife were left with no choice but to spend the night in the airport after failing to book a hotel room. On Tuesday, they were offered tickets on Air Canada that would take them back to Heathrow via New York.
The Hertfordshire couple was initially informed that Air Canada was not in charge of them and that they were unable to board another flight for at least 24 hours.
Before Air Canada announced the additional flights, their other son spent £1,300 arranging them an alternate journey home on another carrier.
The couple is seeking restitution for both their suffering and the money their kid spent.
The couple’s son, Patrick Brailey, verified today that Air Canada workers had called his parents to apologize. He added that talks about an explanation and compensation were still ongoing.
Mr. and Mrs. Brailey were expelled from the plane without being given a reason; however, they later discovered from airline staff in the airport that they might have been expelled for being intoxicated or not wearing masks.
They were perplexed because they hadn’t had any alcohol and had been waiting for the plane to take off while seated in their seats with masks on.
Mr. Brailey said that no other passengers had violated flight attendant instructions or behaved inappropriately in his presence.
After failing to reserve a hotel room, he and his wife were forced to spend the night in the airport. They received an offer for tickets on Air Canada on Tuesday that would return them to Heathrow via New York.
Initial information provided to the Hertfordshire couple stated that Air Canada was not in responsibility of them and that they would not be allowed to board another trip for at least 24 hours.
Their second son spent £1,300 organizing them a different route home on another airline before Air Canada announced the extra flights.
Both the couple’s pain and the money their child spent are being sought as recompense.
The puzzled couple was “totally fast asleep,” according to Jordan, when they were touched on the shoulder by armed cops and instructed to leave.
They were both sobbing and upset, he claimed. They simply were unable to comprehend it.
The bald man was simply moving along, yelling, “This person, this person,” and ordering everyone to disembark. Then I was given the go-ahead to leave. He refused to answer my question on why.
Previously, I was dozing off with my eyes closed while wearing my headphones, taking off my shoes, and wearing a mask.
About two hours before, I had eaten with a coworker and we had each only had one beer. I was pulled off the plane while he remained on it. It was terrifying. It was an odd circumstance.
I was a member of the Williams team, thus I had a responsibility to act appropriately. I would have avoided becoming intoxicated at all costs.
The two Canadians sitting next to me were also removed. The man was sound sleeping and wearing both an eye mask and a complete face mask.
They simply stated that we needed to get off without providing any other information.
We had to navigate between armed police officers on either side of the gantry walkway leading back to the terminal.
They simply told us to follow the police to Customs, where they would be waiting for us, he continued. When several of us attempted to return to the plane, we were reprimanded.
We were informed that in order to reenter Canada, we had to go through Customs. Although I was hesitant to do it, everyone ultimately succeeded.
“We arrived to the baggage claim area, where we interacted with a female Air Canada representative. We were forced to leave, but she did not specify why.
She only stated that the cops had cause to remove us because we were acting aggressively, breaking mask rules, or both.
We were all subject to that mandate, albeit she did not say who had done what.
She blamed Customs for not bringing our baggage off the plane as we waited for our luggage to exit the aircraft.
The Customs officers responded by saying that it was not their fault. Ultimately, the plane took off with our luggage still aboard.
I argued that it was an egregious violation of aviation regulations since passengers must board aircraft with their bags.
The Air Canada representative informed us all that due to our behavior, Air Canada would not be providing us with new flights. Since we had done nothing wrong, nobody could comprehend it.
Jordan, a resident of Warwickshire, claimed he was left wondering if the decision to evict passengers had anything to do with a “grumpy” air hostess on the aircraft.
She was rather impolite to two of my coworkers, he claimed, asking them to sit down while they were stowing their bags in overhead lockers.
“I just wonder whether she was having a rough day and was looking for retaliation.”
Jordan claimed that Williams representatives had arranged for his group to spend the night at a downtown Montreal hotel and had scheduled for them to board a British Airways flight on Tuesday night to return to Heathrow.