A two-hour flight from B.C. to Yukon turned into a frustrating two-day international tour for dozens of passengers this week.
Air Canada’s 88 passengers began their journey late Monday night, flying out of Vancouver. They were headed for Whitehorse, but ended up in Anchorage, Alaska, for a night, and then were flown back to Vancouver for another night.
Some of the passengers finally arrived in Whitehorse early Wednesday afternoon — more than 36 hours late. Others were expected to arrive on a later flight on Wednesday.
“This is an inconvenience, but nobody has been out in the cold,” said Thea Rogers on Tuesday evening from Anchorage. She was one of the passengers trying to get home to Whitehorse.
“My one criticism is the lack of communication with Air Canada — you know, we just didn’t have a clue what was going on.”
Hey <a href=”https://twitter.com/AirCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AirCanada</a>, thanks for missing in Whitehorse last night. I’ve been waiting to visit Anchorage for a while now, but not this way. The least you could do is send over the correct manifest to get us through security <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/whitehorse?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#whitehorse</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yxy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yxy</a>
Rogers described how the initial flight was uneventful until the very end.
“In fact, I thought we had landed. It kind of got that bumpy — [like] when the wheels hit the ground — and you know, that ‘thunk.’ And then it was this sharp up, up, up, up and everybody’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t think we’re landing.'”
She said they flew for another 15 minutes or so before an announcement was made, telling them they were going to Anchorage.
“[There was] no information as to why we’re going to Anchorage, and not returning to Vancouver,” she said.
Another diversion
Rogers said passengers were still in the dark once the plane landed in Alaska. After about half an hour on the tarmac, they were told they would spend the night.
“Then they didn’t tell us whether we were going to simply be sleeping on the chairs in the security area, or whether we would actually be able to leave. I didn’t think we could leave, without passports.”
The airport in Anchorage, Alaska — an unexpected destination for the Yukon-bound passengers this week. (Simon Charland/CBC)
The passengers were put up in a local hotel for the night. Rogers has no complaints there — she said the hotel staff in Anchorage were extremely friendly and helpful, and in fact, more helpful than Air Canada.
She said on Tuesday, it was frustrating trying to find out what was going on.
“The guy who drove us to the airport had more information than any Air Canada person.”
Diversions are extremely rare, and diversions that result in an overnight are even rarer.– Air Canada spokesperson in an email
In an email to CBC News on Tuesday, an Air Canada spokesperson said the flight was diverted from Whitehorse “due to the weather limits for landing in Whitehorse.”
“Anchorage was the optimal diversion location for this flight yesterday for operational reasons … Diversions are extremely rare, and diversions that result in an overnight are even rarer.”
In a followup email, the airline referred to “low ceilings” at Whitehorse that may have made landing unsafe. The city has been overcast with periods of snow in recent days.
The flight eventually left Anchorage later Tuesday, and headed to Whitehorse — but again, weather prevented a landing. The plane went to Vancouver for another night.
Passenger Roger Gauthier said people on the plane “couldn’t believe it.”
“We flew over Whitehorse, we could actually see the lights down below,” he said.
Another Air Canada flight to Whitehorse was also diverted back to Vancouver on Tuesday, and two more flights after that were cancelled.
Gauthier said it was “total chaos” when they arrived back in Vancouver, as passengers were directed through customs and told where to pick up meal vouchers.
Arriving in Whitehorse on Wednesday, he said he’s likely out a couple of days’ pay because of missed work. His main complaint, though, was being kept in the dark by Air Canada.
“Major lack of communications — since Monday,” he said.
New passenger protection rules
Air North, meanwhile, was able to fly as scheduled to Whitehorse. Company president Joe Sparling said that’s because his aircraft have GPS equipment that allows them to land in low visibility.
New air passenger protection rules came into effect on Sunday in Canada, dealing with compensation for passengers on delayed or cancelled flights — large airlines like Air Canada now have to pay a passenger up to $1,000 for flights delayed more than nine hours.
According to the regulations, airlines don’t have to pay if the flight is delayed or cancelled due to uncontrollable factors such as bad weather.
The arrivals area at Whitehorse airport. (Paul Tukker/CBC)
Lisa Schroeder, visiting Whitehorse from Manitoba, said on Wednesday that her long journey was disappointing, but she wasn’t too bothered.
“Nobody can control the weather, and we were very thankful that the pilot made a wise decision,” she said.
She says passengers were warned before takeoff on Wednesday that they still might not be able to land in Whitehorse, as skies were still not clear.
“We just prayed that God would open up the door so that we could land safely, and He did. And we’re very grateful,” she said.
CALGARY – MEG Energy Corp. says its full-year production is likely to come in towards the lower end of its forecast range, in part due to the wildfires at its Christina Lake oilsands site in northern Alberta.
The Calgary-based company said it produced 103,298 barrels per day of bitumen in its third quarter, comparable with the 103,726 barrels per day it produced in the same quarter last year.
But over the summer and fall, the company’s Christina Lake site was affected by out-of-control wildfires in the area, leading to a temporary evacuation in July and a one-month delay in the drilling and completion of a new well pad at the site.
CEO Darlene Gates said Wednesday the company’s production was also impacted by severe cold weather at the start of the year.
She said MEG’s average production guidance for 2024 remains unchanged, but will likely come in toward the low end of the 102,000 to 108,000 barrels per day forecast.
MEG earned $167 million in its third quarter, down from $249 million during the same quarter last year, in large part due to lower benchmark oil prices.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales surged 43.8 per cent in October compared with the same month last year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 3,824 for the month, up from 2,659 in October 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by an 8.1 per cent increase for the price of a single-family home at $589,000 last month.
The median price for a plex rose 7.1 per cent to $789,500 and the median price for a condominium rose 6.2 per cent to $414,250.
There were 6,258 new listings in the Montreal area last month, up 10.7 per cent from a year earlier.
Active listings for October rose eight per cent compared with a year earlier to 18,201.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
COLE HARBOUR, N.S. – Police in Nova Scotia are investigating a murder-suicide in Cole Harbour they say is a case of intimate partner violence.
RCMP say a 72-year-old man killed his partner, a 71-year-old woman, and then killed himself.
They say officers found the bodies Monday morning at a residence in the town across the harbour from downtown Halifax, after they received a report that someone had died at the home.
A news release Tuesday says police are investigating alongside the provincial medical examiner service.
The release does not provide the name of the deceased man or his victim.
The Canadian Femicide Observatory says that as of Oct. 31, at least 155 women and girls have been killed so far this year in Canada and in 95 per cent of those deaths, a male was accused in their killing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
