[Dylann]

I had the misfortune of booking Lufthansa 4215 connecting with Air Canada 839 through Frankfurt on April 21/10. No problems with Lufthansa; big problems with Air Canada (again).

On April 20/10 when I checked online in Paris the status of my return AC839 flight to Canada via Frankfurt, it was operational. At 0830h on April 21/10 when Lufthansa staff in Paris checked the status of your flight AC839, it was still operational. But, when we got to Frankfurt, guess what? AC839 was cancelled. This cancellation was NOT due to volcanic ash. The skies were open on April 21st.

Why was this flight cancelled? Lufthansa was flying. United was flying, Hell, even Condor Airlines was flying out of Frankfurt. Why was Air Canada still on the ground? They refuse to say. I suspect (but have not proof) it was because they failed to have planes in position at Frankfurt but who knows? Only Air Canada (AC) and as usual they refuse to comment.

We all know there was no safety issue at that time resulting from the Icelandic volcano ash cloud. AC flew out of Paris de Gaulle. AC flew out of London Heathrow. So what was AC’s problem at Frankfurt? No other airline had a problem – just Ait Canada.

To add insult to the situation, AC sent me an email on April 20/10 stating “we look forward to welcoming you onboard AC839 departing Frankfurt at 13:45 on Wed 21-Apr, 2010”. Well, isn’t that special? If only they had done so. And why would I ever again check an Air Canada flight status online when they provide blatantly misleading information? Nor was there any follow-up email informing us that AC839 had been cancelled. We had to find that out in person at the Frankfurt check-in counter.

Thanks to Air Canada’s incompetence, we had to pay for a night at the InterCity Hotel, Frankfurt Airport (€106.00), pay internet fees (€6.00), pay shuttle bus fare (€5.00) and, pay for food at the airport (€10.00) for a grand total of €127.00. And all this because I stupidly believed Air Canada would do what it said it would do and what other airlines were actually doing – fly out of Frankfurt on April 21/10. They sent written confirmation that AC839 was a go but not when it was cancelled.

There was no reason, or even excuse, for AC839 not to depart at 13:45 on Wed 21-Apr, 2010 as their 20-Apr, 2010 email stated yet no reimbursement from Air Canada – just a snarky refusal ending with “we hope to welcome you on an Air Canada flight in the near future”. Like ya, has it been cancelled yet?