Air Canada has been ordered to pay the Mittal family from Oakville, Ont. about $65,000 Canadian. The money is meant to compensate the family for the “mental agony and harassment” they suffered when Air Canada ordered them off a flight. Air Canada said it plans to contest the decision. “Our version of events is different,” said spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick in an email. The family had to leave the plane because Teesha was sick, he added.
TORONTO – An Indo-Canadian family from Toronto was awarded $65,000 by a consumer commission in India after they were kicked off a flight by Air Canada and partnering airline, Jet Airways.
The commission ordered Air Canada to pay the Mittal family from Oakville, Ont. about $65,000 Canadian. The money is meant to compensate the family for the “mental agony and harassment” they suffered when Air Canada ordered them off a flight.
In September 2017, Minali Mittal and her two young children boarded a Toronto-bound Air Canada flight after a stopover in New Delhi.
According to Mittal, her 11-year-old daughter Teesha threw up due to a bad smell on the plane. Cabin crew said Teesha was unfit to travel and ordered the family to leave, stranding them at the airport. Mittal’s son Rivansh was just three at the time, reported CBC News.
“I’m a very proud Canadian, but I just felt like this was the most un-Canadian thing that I’ve ever seen,” said Mittal in an interview.
Air Canada says it ‘acted in the best interests of an ill child and for the well-being of all other passengers.’ (Air Canada)
The Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission — which functions like a court — was scathing in its ruling. The family was “forcibly de-boarded from the aircraft on flimsy grounds” and left at the airport with no offer of food, water or even access to a phone, said the commission in a written decision.
It condemned Air Canada for its “deficiency in service” and “violation of human rights,” and blasted company staff Mittal dealt with for “rude” behaviour which “brought shame to the airline.”
The commission ruled India-based Jet Airways was also liable, because the family booked the flight through the codeshare partner airline, and flew Jet Airways for the first leg of their trip from Chandigarh, India, to New Delhi.
Jet Airways declined to comment.
Air Canada said it plans to contest the decision. “Our version of events is different,” said spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick in an email. The family had to leave the plane because Teesha was sick, he added.
Mittal’s troubles began when, after boarding the Air Canada flight, her daughter tried to use the washroom.
The bathroom was locked and was emitting a foul smell that, according to Mittal, made Teesha nauseous, and she vomited near the door.
Mittal says cabin crew became upset, and said the family had to leave.
“They made us feel like criminals, the way they were talking to us.”
She said four male ground crew arrived and, despite her pleas to stay, escorted the family off the plane.
“I was really crying by that time, honestly, because it was very humiliating.”
Meanwhile, Air Canada had sent their luggage home to Oakville.
“We were very traumatized,” said Mittal. “I didn’t know they could do this to us.”
Courtesy CBC News
