A Montreal woman says her "horrible" experience on an Air Transat flight last month shows the new Passenger's Bill of Rights can't come soon enough but should be amended to deal with issues like hers.
Miranda Gallo said she and other passengers were supposed to fly out of Montreal for Rome on August 9 at 8 pm but at 1:30 a.m. they were still here after sitting on the tarmac for two and a half hours due to what Air Transat called a mechanical problem. They ended up waiting at the gate for a couple of more hours.
Gallo claims they were given no food until she had to almost beg for it around four and a half hours later, and that little information about the flight - which left a day later - was given out with an official announcement eight hours afterwards..
"Really belittling, dehumanizing," said Gallo, who contacted yourstory@cjad.com
Gallo said she missed her flight to her final destination of Bulgaria and ended up stuck in Rome for two weeks with limited funds for travel and accomodation.
Gallo said she wants a refund but that Air Transat has only offered a $200 voucher for her next flight with the airline. Gallo said she's out about $1000 in air travel to Bulgaria and hotel costs in Italy because of the flight delay.
Gallo said the new passenger bill of rights should be amended because it probably wouldn't have helped her since mechanical problems are exempt.
"It's a loophole, right?" said Gallo.
Air Transat has not responded to CJAD 800's request for comment.