Air Canada revokes employee's flying privileges after daughter's complaint

An employee of Air Canada saw her flying privileges stripped away for two years after her daughter filed a complaint against the airline regarding its services.

Insider reported that the daughter, who did not want to be named, filed a grievance with the airline after she allegedly received poor customer service by gate staff. According to the report, the complaint was not only filed to the senior officials of the airline but was also copied in media outlets.

The daughter purchased her tickets using the stand-by privileges given to her by her mother, added the report, which allows airline employees to fly anywhere for a fraction of the normal price of the airline ticket.

The daughter told the Insider that this perk was the "main reason" her mother, an administrator and is close to retirement at the age of 62 years old, joined the carrier.

But this benefit won't be available to the mother and daughter anytime soon, after the employee was told in an email seen by Insider that she would not be allowed to fly standby for the next two years. According to Insider, the airline revoked the privilege after the employee allegedly broke its code by allowing a family member to file a grievance. The employee was also told that her daughter "misrepresented herself as a revenue-generating customer."

"I had a really like sickening feeling when my mother told me what they did to her," the daughter told the Insider. "It's one thing for me to be reprimanded, but it's totally different for my actions impacting my mom."

According to her, her mother already sought the help of her union, who informed her that there was nothing they could do. Her mother was then advised to apologise to reduce her sanction.

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Air Canada, in a statement to the Insider, refused to relay further details on the incident, but it stressed that the facts presented were not aligned with that happened.

"We deal with our employees directly on internal matters," it told Insider in a statement. "We take feedback about our services seriously. In fact, we undertook an investigation into the complaint lodged, and subsequently found facts which did not align with what was presented."

The airline also confirmed that it had an employee travel privilege for staff, which it said had "responsibility" that comes along with it.

"We can confirm employee travel is a special privilege and a unique and generous perk of working for an airline that comes with responsibilities which the overwhelming majority of employees and families understand and value."