While flights were once more moving smoothly out of Vancouver International Airport and other airports in the Lower Mainland, it came too late for an Abbotsford couple whose family in Winnipeg decided to postpone Christmas.
Three generations of the Klassen family finally held Christmas on Saturday morning, two days late.
Abbotsford grandparents, Lucille and Doyle Klassen, should have been with their family on Christmas Eve. But their Air Canada fight from Vancouver was cancelled.
"My impression was they couldn't handle the volume or the many problems that were there," said Doyle.
Lucille said they ended up having Christmas dinner at Denny's.
In the struggle for hearts and minds -- and also future business -- one airline seems to have done far better.
There were many families who were disappointed this Christmas when their loved ones did not arrive, said Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers Association of Canada. He said his organization had received hundreds of calls.
"I'm absolutely amazed at what we're hearing," said. "Some of the people that called us were sobbing at the time. They're very emotional about it."
Cran said they also got compliments -- about competing airline WestJet.
"When we discovered that Air Canada couldn't not get there until Sunday... we decided to check with WestJet and they booked us through for Friday night, said Doyle Klassen.
"If I was rating them on a scale of one to them I'd give WestJet a10 out of 10. I'd give Air Canada a lump of coal if I had one, or a minus 1. They've been that bad -- and they don't think they owe anyone an explanation," said Cran.
He offered advice to those inconvenienced.
"Consumers should make their views known to their members to Parliament that they're not prepared to tolerate this. Air Canada should express some proper regret to consumers generally and particularly to those inconvenienced."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
