Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Angelique Bibby
July 18, 2020 - 6:02 PM
Air Canada has set its boundaries when it comes to mask rules, but the policy stranded a Kelowna woman in Montreal.
Angelique Bibby says she had a doctor’s note to clear her for her flights to Ottawa to visit her sister so she didn’t wear a mask.
Bibby said she has anxiety and was prescribed Ativan to deal with her panic attacks. However, she didn’t want to take it as she had her two-year-old daughter on the flight with her to see her sister.
On July 11, she checked in with Air Canada and had no issues on her flight to Vancouver. She said she was also cleared in Vancouver after Air Canada employees consulted a doctor.
She said she gets claustrophobia which prevents her from wearing a mask, and planes aren’t comfortable for her, but she is used to them. She doesn’t like sitting by people on flights, she said.
Bibby was then able to fly to Toronto and Ottawa without wearing a mask.
Yesterday, July 17, she was returning home and caught a flight from Ottawa to Montreal when issues arose.
Bibby said the Air Canada manager would not let her on the flight in Montreal, despite her offering to wear a face shield. She said was told because of her medical condition, Air Canada wouldn’t let her on the flight with a mask. She said people in the airport were offering her masks.
“I started to get really upset at this point,” she said. “Where’s the humanity? I’m trying to get home with my daughter.”
Bibby still hasn’t found her luggage and she said no one knows where it is, she said.
READ MORE: Two more Kelowna flights with possible COVID-19 exposure
She eventually was able to get a flight home through WestJet, she said.
“I was bawling my eyes out,” she said. “This fiasco has cost me $1,300 in flights."
She wants to be compensated for her flights, she said, and to make others aware of what could happen when they travel despite having doctor's notes.
In a statement from Air Canada, the company said it can’t comment on specific cases, but “face masks covering nose and mouth are mandatory onboard all flights as part of our multi-layered biosafety requirements and medical approvals are required ahead of time for any exemptions... we’re reviewing the situation to ensure it is consistently applied to ensure the comfort, health and safety of all passengers, and following up directly with the customer.”
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