Air Canada resumes service but travel worries continue

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Air Canada resumes service but travel worries continue

Air Canada resumes service, but teen still stuck overseas

Despite resuming operations on Tuesday, some Air Canada passengers are still feeling tense about their travel plans.

A 14-year-old Kitchener girl who is travelling alone is still in Paris, France.

The teen’s grandmother, Marie Lewis, continues to worry as her granddaughter is scheduled to fly home this weekend.

When the airline started announcing cancellations, Lewis said she reached out to Air Canada, but didn’t hear back. She said she still hasn’t received any communication from the airline.

Air Canada’s website says 97 per cent of domestic flights are expected to operate over the next 24 hours, as well as 99 per cent of US flights and 76 per cent of other international routes.

A return to full service could take up to 10 days, and while a tentative agreement on Wednesday ended a three-day strike by flight attendants, the ratification vote isn’t scheduled to start until August 27.

Lewis said she’s worried about her granddaughter’s flight home because she is an unaccompanied minor travelling through the remaining labour turbulence.

She said she tried calling the airline but hasn’t been able to get a hold of anyone, and with the chance for another strike if the ratification vote fails, she feels there should be more communication with customers.

“Incredibly stressful. It’s all the unknown factors that make it even more stressful. I feel like if Air Canada, even when they were deciding on going on this strike, took into consideration things like unaccompanied minors. You can go on their website, you can find all kinds of information for traveling, but there is absolutely nothing for unaccompanied minors. You can’t contact anybody,” Lewis said.

Lewis said she’s hoping that nothing changes between now and the weekend when her granddaughter gets home, but she won’t fully feel relaxed until she’s back.