Air Canada says it will be adjusting the fare for travellers who flew out from the blazes at Fort McMurray after they were charged a premium for a flight earlier this week.
Air Canada had a statement on their website that refuted accusations that they hiked airfares as thousands of residents from Fort McMurray fleed the area. They said that the premium fare prices were a result of their computerized fare system. “This was a result of Air Canada’s computerized revenue management system, which automatically manages fares. It is not correct that we raised fares in response to this devastating situation.”
In some cases, customers booking last minute on May 3 and 4 on flights from Fort McMurray and Edmonton paid premium fares as a result.
The airline went on to say that they were unable to intervene in advance to manually adjust fares. “In those instances we will be contacting customers who paid a premium to adjust the fare to the normally available, lowest advance fare and refund the difference.”
Customers took to Air Canada’s Facebook page to talk about their disappointment at the “outrageous” cost of flights out of Fort McMurray amid the wildfire crisis.
A spokesperson for Air Canada has since said that the airline has since been offering their “lowest available fares” to people affected by the Fort McMurray situation, including dropping extra fees. Also, that Air Canada and Air Canada Express partner Jazz have taken “a number of measures” to assist in the wildfire situation, including additional 1,300 extra seats into Alberta for people wishing to travel, delivering supplies and chartered aircraft at cost to oil field companies airlifting employees.
Air Canada has also donated $50,000 to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts.
Calgary-based WestJet is also involved in rescue efforts, including flying relief supplies into the affected areas, as well as flying evacuees and workers out of the Fort McMurray area.
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