Few situations are quite as stressful as flying with children, which anyone who has experienced it will know only too well. This is why we need as much help and support as possible from the cabin crew and our fellow passengers.
We can absolutely relate to the frustration of Alberta woman Stacey Osmond then, after her experience on an Air Canada flight from Nova Scotia to Calgary last month.
Stacey was travelling with her three-year-old granddaughter, Ruby, during the five-and-a-half hour flight. About halfway through, the toddler – who had finished potty training months before – needed to use the toilet.
Now, Stacey told local news outlet CBC News that the travel agent helping her to book the flight had advised her to reserve seats close to business class, so that they would have easy access to the toilets.
Stacey took this advice, and when Ruby needed to use the facilities, they headed towards the business class toilets. However, a flight attendant turned Stacey and her grandchild away, as they were not seated in business class.
When a service trolley prevented them from reaching the toilet at the other end of the plane, they attempted to go back to the business class facilities – but, again, they were turned away.
Stacey recounted: “The second or third time I tried to take Ruby to the bathroom, the flight attendant told me, ‘I can’t have you coming up here anymore.’
“I said, ‘She’s a baby. I was given those seats by a booking agent for that reason, so that she would be close to the bathroom.’
“She said, ‘That doesn’t matter, you are not to come up here.’”
Poor little Ruby ended up wetting herself, and then had to sit in her wet clothes for the remainder of the flight.
Stacey was left understandably ‘enraged’, and while Air Canada has apologised and offered various forms of compensation, the grandmother is looking for one thing that hasn’t been offered: a full apology from the flight attendant in question.
“I’d like her to have to call and apologise, and maybe she’ll think twice about how she acts in the future. It was a very unpleasant flight for us,” she added.
Let’s hope Stacey and Ruby get the apology they deserve.
