Travellers are having trouble getting through to Air Canada as the airline struggles to rebook flights after 24 of its Boeing 737 Max 8 planes were grounded
Calls to Air Canada's customer service line Wednesday and Thursday prompted a recording that said call volume has temporarily exceeded the company's capacity to answer or even place callers on hold.Kimberly Yetman Dawson, visiting family in Ontario, said she booked a second return flight to Halifax this Saturday at double the cost due to confusion over whether her original trip - scheduled initially on a Max 8 - would go ahead.
Air Canada said it will waive cancellation charges and rebooking fees for Max 8 flights within three weeks of the original travel date. “Obviously we lose our markup,” he said. “We have to call every single 1/8 Max 8 3/8 customer and check for alternate dates.” More than three-quarters of those travellers would be rebooked on flights Thursday, with the remainder departing Friday or Saturday, the airline said.
Mary Jane Hiebert, who chairs the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies, said the virtual blanket ban on the more than 375 Max 8s in service across the world will snarl up the global flight grid.
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