Air Canada has temporarily paused its policy to charge a new seat selection fee for travellers with standard or basic fares following backlash from customers.
Under the policy change announced April 18, the airline said it planned to charge passengers with standard or basic fares if they wished to change their automatically assigned seats during check-in.
Previously, customers with fares that didn’t offer free seat selection prior to check-in had the option to change their randomly assigned seat to another available seat for free.
Air Canada customers received notices earlier this month announcing an upcoming April 24 policy change for standard and basic fares.
Thunder Bay, Ont., travel agent Kerry Berlinquette shared an image on social media of the notice she received April 18.
“When customers enter the check-in flow, our system will automatically assign a seat free of charge for those who have not purchased a seat in advance,” the notice reads.
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“We understand customers may have a preferred spot. If they wish to change their automatically assigned seat, they can easily do so for a fee.”
The policy change notice sparked a torrent of complaints, with customers taking to social media to express their dissatisfaction.
“That stinks. It was bad enough you had to fight for a seat 24 hours before flight,” a Facebook user wrote in a comment on Ms. Berlinquette’s post. “Just another money grabber.”
A user on platform X posted the policy to his account, noting “my luck they would separate my wife and I and we would have to pay extra to sit together.”
Several other users took to X to decry the policy.
“So Air Canada can now split your party at their discretion to force you to spend money to ensure your party sits together. (Previously it was a safe gamble at 24 hours you could find seats together),” an X user commented.
“It’s just not parents with kids; couples; senior citizens but also people with disabilities and medical conditions you'll be profiteering from,” another X user said, tagging Air Canada.
Air Canada, in a statement to airline industry news website Pax News, explained its change in policy.
“What has changed, and is consistent with our branded fares, is that after seats are assigned at check-in for no fee, customers who now wish to change to a different seat from the one we assigned them will have to pay the same fee they would have paid prior to check-in,” the airline wrote to Pax News. “This is the practice at other airlines, including some in Canada.”
Air Canada has since announced it has paused the newly instituted fee as of April 26. The airline told CTV the policy pause was a bid to “ensure a smooth rollout for our customers and employees.”
The airline said it would “communicate next steps at the appropriate time,” but declined to comment on if the decision was in response to customer complaints or how long the policy pause would last.
Air Canada did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time.
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