Air Canada has apologized to passenger Mayette Musclow of Kelowna, B.C., after it barred her from flying to Cleveland last month to visit her terminally ill husband.
The airline told CBC News that the mishap occurred due to a misinterpretation of complex border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was at the airport crying,” said Musclow about the incident. “I didn’t know what to do.”
After she read a CBC News story on Friday — which outlined that Canadians can fly to the U.S. during the pandemic — Musclow booked another flight and flew to Cleveland on Tuesday with no complications.
“I’m so overwhelmed right now, so overjoyed,” she told CBC after passing through U.S. Customs.
To help stop the spread of COVID-19, the Canada-U.S. land border is closed to non-essential traffic on both sides of the border until at least July 21. However, Canadians can still enter the U.S. by plane.
But when Musclow tried to check in for her May 24 flight from Kelowna to Cleveland, she said an Air Canada agent told her the U.S. border was closed to Canadians, and wouldn’t let her board the plane.
“I was so upset because we had three months — my husband has three months [to live] and I wanted to go over there and be with him,” said Musclow.
Mayette Musclow waiting at the airport for her flight to the U.S., after passing through U.S. customs. on Tuesday. (Submitted by Mayette Musclow)
Her husband, John Sarvis, has cirrhosis of the liver and a 20 per cent chance of dying within the next three months, according to a May 7 doctor’s note provided by Musclow.
She married Sarvis, an American, last year in Akron, Ohio, near Cleveland, and planned to live with him at his home in Akron once her application for an immigrant visa was approved.
When Sarvis received his dire diagnosis last month, Musclow took time off from her job as a care aid, and booked a flight to be with him.
Canadians can still fly to the U.S.?
Musclow booked her flight with United Airlines, but Air Canada was the carrier for the first leg of the trip from Kelowna to Washington D.C. She said when she purchased her ticket by phone, a United agent assured her that she could fly to the U.S. as a Canadian citizen.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Canadian travellers can currently fly to the U.S. as long as they haven’t visited Brazil, China, Iran, Ireland, the U.K. or 26 European countries in the Schengen Area 14 days prior.
But Musclow said the Air Canada agent at the Kelowna airport told her she needed written permission to travel to the U.S., and wouldn’t issue her a boarding pass.
Musclow said she consulted a second Air Canada agent at the airport who told her that if the airline let her enter the U.S., the U.S. government would fine her $1,000.
“I was shaking,” said Musclow. “It caused me a lot of stress and tears for days. I was just crushed.”
Dr. Ashley Cook is currently in Windsor, while her husband Dr. Tom Cook is in Michigan. The couple is expecting their first child, and the ongoing border restrictions have introduced complications to an already tricky pregnancy. 1:49
Musclow said United Airlines returned the reward miles she used to book the flight, but didn’t refund the $130 she paid in taxes and fees.
United told CBC News on Tuesday it will refund the money.
After being contacted by CBC, Air Canada sent Musclow an email on Tuesday offering a $500 travel voucher and its “sincere apologies” for what happened to her at check-in.
Musclow being denied boarding was an “unfortunate situation” that “arose due to a misinterpretation of the complex and changing rules around border closings,” Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick told CBC News in an email.
Because the U.S. land border is closed to Canadian travellers, many Canadians have incorrectly assumed they can’t fly to the U.S.
Two days before Musclow’s flight, Air Canada announced that it had resumed flying to the U.S. The online announcement included a link to a CBP website which states that Canadians can enter the country.
Fear of flying
Because she was denied boarding, Musclow was afraid to book another flight. She said she started losing hope of seeing her husband anytime soon, after learning last week that the Canada-U.S. land border closure would be extended past its then end-date of June 21.
“I was sitting in my bed and saying, ‘What’s happening?'” said Musclow. “Like, I’m just gonna go there and bury my husband when the border’s open?”
Musclow had renewed hope of travelling to Cleveland after she read the June 12 CBC News article about Canadians flying to the U.S.
The story featured a B.C. woman who had who had flown from Vancouver to Seattle last month to visit her sick grandson.
“It was a big, big relief when I found out this lady was able to fly to the U.S.,” said Musclow. “I was like, ‘Why did the agent at Air Canada turn me down?'”
On her second attempt to fly to Cleveland, Air Canada let her board her flight. Musclow landed in Cleveland on Tuesday night.
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The win kept the defending World Series-champion Rangers alive in the AL West race, trailing first-place Houston by 10 games with 10 to play.
García launched an inside sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
“He swings hard, he swings a lot,” Francis said of García. “I guess the velo was dropping during that time.”
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
The seven shutout innings are the most in a game during his two-year career. He was knocked out of his previous start after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and homers (three) in 3 2/3 innings in a 14-4 loss at Arizona.
“Throughout the week, you’ve got to try and digest what happened, see where I can make adjustments, whether it was just game plan went wrong or just poor execution, or a little bit of both,” Bradford said. “Then you flush it.”
Bradford was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Spencer Horwitz’s double to left-center put runners on second and third with no outs before Bradford retired the next three batters.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credited Bradford’s “deceptive fastball.”
“When you’re throwing 89, 92, you’ve got to have pretty good deception with that at this level,” Schneider said. “Kept us off balance.”
Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Francis, who took no-hitters into the ninth inning in two of his previous four starts, allowed a double to Marcus Semien, the Rangers’ first hitter of the game. He gave up five hits and one walk in six innings.
Francis has a 1.96 ERA in nine starts with 54 strikeouts and seven walks since being moved back into the starting rotation in late July.
“I don’t even want to get complacent, on cruise control,” Francis said. “Just keep attacking.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was a late scratch with a right middle finger contusion suffered during infield practice. Schneider said the team will get back x-rays on Thursday. Bichette was activated Tuesday following a calf injury and played for the first time in two months, going 2 for 5 with one RBI at the plate. … INF Will Wagner (left knee inflammation) will have the knee scoped on Thursday. Schneider said Wagner should be ready to start spring training. Wagner, son of former major leaguer Billy Wagner, was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline.
UP NEXT
Rangers rookie RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his home debut against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (12-11, 4.02) in the series finale. Rocker allowed one run in four innings at Seattle last Thursday in his major league debut.
