Air Canada assigns baby seat several rows away, leaving family frustrated

Adrian Ghobrial has more on a family's frustrating experience after Air Canada assigned their 18-month-old a lone seat, several rows away from the family.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) has decided not to take enforcement action against Air Canada following a months-long investigation into how an 18-month-old baby girl was assigned a seat all by herself, more than five rows away from her closest parent.

A Canadian family of four, and air passenger rights advocates say the decision shows the CTA has no interest in upholding air passenger rights or holding Canadian airlines accountable.

On Jan. 3, Greg and Lindsay McLachlan were preparing to fly home from Tampa Bay to Toronto on Air Canada Rouge, with their three-and-a-half-year-old son, Peter and their 18-month-old daughter, named Margaret, who they call Molly.

After their flight was delayed five hours, the family was preparing to board when they learned that Molly had been put on standby, meaning she was not guaranteed a seat on the next flight.

Speaking to CTV News, Greg McLachlan says he was shocked. “I said, ‘what do you mean she’s not assigned a seat, she’s on standby? How can she be on standby?’” he asked.

McLachlan, a frequent flyer who paid in advance for his children to be seated together with him, used his status with Air Canada to reserve a separate, more comfortable seat in a row near the front of the aircraft for his wife as a kind gesture.

An Air Canada Rouge agent at check-in managed to fix the mix-up and issued Molly a boarding pass. But upon further inspection, the McLachlans realized that Molly had been assigned a seat by herself in row 15, six rows away from her father and brother assigned to row 21.

The family was told they’d have to figure out the mix-up once they boarded. So, the McLachlans walked onto their delayed plane and spoke to the first attendant they saw, who was standing inside the entrance of the aircraft.

According to the McLachlans, the Air Canada attendant told the family, that staff aren’t legally allowed to ask passengers to move. With his daughter in one arm, his son holding his other hand, the father walked down the aisle and was forced to negotiate with multiple passengers who agreed to play musical seats onboard the flight to accommodate Molly.

“There was no assistance from anyone at Air Canada,” said McLachlan, who went on to share his bewilderment that Air Canada is “a large company that operates airplanes. If children are on the plane, you should know that children are on the plane and you should make sure they are safe on the plane, full stop.”

Under Canada’s, Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), “airlines must seat children under 14 near a parent or guardian at no extra cost, with proximity depending on age. Children under 5 must be in an adjacent seat,” reads the law which is outlined by the CTA.

Following the flight, the McLachlans say Air Canada’s initial offer was to refund the money they’d spent in advance to reserve Molly a seat. Unsatisfied with the response, they contacted the enforcement division of the Canadian Transportation Agency and opened a case.

After a months-long investigation, last week the family received a phone call from the CTA informing them that the “investigation is now concluded, and no enforcement action will be taken at this time.”

McLachlan told CTV News that he’s not surprised by the decision.

“It’s exactly what I thought was going to happen – that they would do nothing, which is a shame. I don’t know what they do. I don’t know why the Canadian taxpayer is paying for that agency. I’m not sure who they’re protecting.”

“When we look at what the CTA has done here, it demonstrates that there is no genuine willingness to enforce passenger rights,” said Gabor Lukacs, the president of Air Passenger Rights – an advocacy group that informs consumers of their rights when travelling.

Under the APPR, the maximum fine Air Canada could have received for not seating a young child with a parent or caregiver is $25,000.

‘No infraction’ says CTA

In an email to CTV News, the CTA says, “The evidence collected throughout the investigation revealed that after boarding, the infant was seated with her family for flight AC1659 on January 3, 2025, and no infraction to the regulations was found.”

It’s a response that has left the McLachlan family fuming. They contend the only reason Molly ended up seated with her parents is because her mother, father and other passengers worked together to fix Air Canada’s mistake, the airline never intervened to help solve the problem.

“The alternative would be for me to put my 18-month-old daughter in a seat by herself,” said McLachlan, who added that, “I can’t imagine that there could be something more egregious than putting a child in a seat six rows up from her parent?”

“If you drive through a red light, hit a car and flee the scene, and someone else helps the injured person, you’re still guilty, you should still be charged. So in this case, Air Canada clearly should have been fined for breaking the APPR,” said Lukacs.

The passenger advocate went on to add that the CTA’s decision not to fine Air Canada, is part of a larger systemic issue within the CTA, where the federal agency has repeatedly shown that they have no interest in enforcing Air Passenger Protection Regulations.

“This simply proves what I’ve been saying for the last eight-plus years, that we don’t have meaningful enforcement in Canada. We have a lapdog instead of a watchdog.”

In an email to CTV News, an Air Canada spokesperson in-part said they “respect the CTA’s decision and their appreciation that we do have policies in place to ensure parents and young children are seated together.” The airline added that it has “since taken measures to reinforce compliance through improved seat assignment technology and additional coaching to ensure the policy is followed consistently in the future.”

Air Canada did eventually offer the family vouchers for future travel. The McLachlans say they declined the vouchers.

“I’m not looking for money, I’m not looking for a free ride, that’s not what the intention of this was. You (Air Canada) did something wrong. Own up to it.” adds McLachlan.