Achi news desk-
Air Canada has temporarily walked back its decision to charge a new seat selection fee to passengers who have booked the lowest fares.
Under the old policy, ticketed customers who were not offered free seat selection prior to check-in would be assigned a random seat at check-in, with the option to change that seat to another seat available for free.
However, some Air Canada customers received notices earlier this month stating that the airline would soon charge passengers standard or basic fares to change their automatically assigned seats during the check-in process.
A Facebook account belonging to Ontario travel agent Kerry Berlinquette shared an image of a notice she received on April 18.
“We are introducing a new seat allocation process for Standard or Basic Fares,” the notice reads.
“When customers enter the check-in flow, our system will automatically assign a seat free of charge to those who have not pre-purchased a seat … If they wish to change their assigned seat automatically, they can easily do so for a fee. “
The notice, which stated that the change would come into effect on April 24, sparked a wave of complaints from angry users on Facebook, X and Reddit.
“That stinks. It was bad enough you had to fight for a seat 24 hours before a flight. Only one else is holding money,” one Facebook user wrote in a comment on Berlinquette’s post.
“It’s frustrating when traditional airlines act like budget airlines,” a Reddit user wrote on April 24. “They’ve removed free checked bags and now they’ve also removed the option to choose free seats during registration. What’s next?
Following some of the backlash, Air Canada issued a statement to airline industry news website Pax News explaining the policy change.
“What has changed, and is consistent with our brand pricing, is that customers who now wish to change to a different seat than their assigned one will have to pay the same fee after seats have been assigned at free registration. they would have paid before check-in,” the airline wrote to Pax News, which reported that the airline would continue to assign seats to ensure that families on the same booking sit together for free, in line with Safeguards Regulations Air Canada Passengers.
“This is the practice in other airlines, including some in Canada.”
However, by April 26, Air Canada had delayed the new fee. The flag carrier would not confirm whether consumer backlash influenced the decision and declined to answer questions from CTVNews.ca about why it had introduced the fee and how long the pause would last.
“We delayed the implementation for operational reasons to ensure a smooth rollout to our customers and employees,” an unnamed spokesperson wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Monday.
“We will communicate the next steps at the appropriate time.”
Air Canada would not be the first Canadian carrier to charge a seat selection fee after check-in. However, the airlines that charge a seat selection fee, such as Flair and Porter, tend to be low-cost carriers that offer more affordable base fares than the Canadian flag carrier.
One exception is WestJet, Canada’s second largest carrier after Air Canada, which also charges a seat selection fee.
