A Toronto couple is accusing Air Canada of mistakenly ripping their passport thus ruining their much-awaited vacation.
Stevi Newman and her husband Aman Kaushik were boarding an Air Canada flight to Cancun in early April at Pearson International Airport.
“She scanned my passport, which was successful, and then scanned my husband’s, and as she was rubbing it on the machine, the back part of the booklet ripped off of his passport,” Newman said.
Despite the damaged travel document, Newman said the Air Canada official returned it and they were able to board the flight.
“(We) arrived in Cancun to the customs desk. They took one look at his passport, and were like, ‘You need to be back on that plane now,’” said Newman.
Kaushik said his passport from India was less than three years old and would have otherwise been accepted in Mexico. But he said the immigration authorities told him to go back to Toronto. According to Newman, they immediately directed Kaushik to the next flight out.
"Pretty much they put me back on the plane in a half an hour, but I said, ‘I need to know my wife is ok and is coming back with me,’” he told CTV News Toronto.
However, authorities neglected to fill Newman in on what she should do.
“There was no direction as to what I was doing,” Newman said.
“They told me to leave the airport, that I would have to book my flight back on my own.”
She waited around 12 hours before she was able to get a flight back to Canada.
Overall, the couple said they spent around $5,000 on their lost vacation, from the extra flight and the added expenses. Now, they’re looking to be compensated for their ruined vacation, they said.
A spokesperson for Air Canada said they are “still reviewing the matter” and that they have been in touch with the couple for more details.
Kaushik was issued a new passport when he got back to Canada. The couple said they are planning a new location now – in a different location and on a different airline.
With files from Pat Foran
