Canadian parents are outraged after their 14-year-old daughter was bumped from a flight due to a ‘weight imbalance’ that left her without help and stranded.
Camryn Larkan, 14, of Victoria, was traveling home from Toronto after visiting a friend when she was suddenly asked by a flight attendant to grab her bags and exit the aircraft.
‘I was kind of just like really confused,’ she told CBC. ‘I thought I was coming back to my seat. I thought that they were just going to take my bags. As soon as I got off the plane and I saw that the door had closed, that’s when I started to get really anxious.’
She learned she and several others had been removed due to a weight imbalance as no volunteers offered to give up their seats on the flight.
The young girl was rebooked on a flight the next day and left to fend for herself.
‘I was completely shocked, confused,’ her mother, Catherine Larkan, told CBC. ‘I was very worried about her.’
Camryn Larkan, 14, of Victoria, (right, with her mother) was traveling home from Toronto after visiting a friend when she was suddenly asked by a flight attendant to grab her bags and exit the aircraft
‘I thought I was coming back to my seat. I thought that they were just going to take my bags. As soon as I got off the plane and I saw that the door had closed, that’s when I started to get really anxious,’ she said
Luckily, the teenager’s father was in Toronto and had been the one to drop her off at the airport and was able to return to take her back in for the night.
‘I’m just glad that my dad was there because if he wasn’t I would have been alone,’ the teen told CBC.
Porter Airlines, on the other hand, said they were not aware Camryn was a minor as her parents had not opted to pay the $100 service fee to have their daughter accompanied.
The policy is mandatory for those eight to 11, but anyone between 12 and 17 have the ‘option to purchase the unaccompanied minor service,’ according to the airline. It also guarantees the minor will not be involuntarily kicked off the flight.
Those who opt not to pay the fee then have their child viewed as an ‘independent adult’ that are subjected to ‘adult passenger situations, such as the weight and balance and offloading situation experience,’ a spokesperson told CBC.
The Larkans said they were unaware the service existed, but regardless, Catherine thinks things need to change.
‘They put my child in imminent danger,’ she told the outlet. ‘It was completely negligent and it shouldn’t happen to any other minor.
Porter Airlines said they were not aware Camryn was a minor as her parents had not opted to pay the $100 service fee to have their daughter accompanied. The unaccompanied minor service guarantees the child will not be involuntarily deplaned
‘They’re providing a service saying we know these people are at-risk and they’re saying if you don’t [pay for] the service, you’re treated as any other adult passenger traveling. It’s just absolutely ludicrous.’
The airline said those deplaned were chosen based on ‘fare type.’ It is unclear what fare the Larkans opted for Camryn.
Duncan Dee, former chief operating officer at Air Canada, said airlines sometimes have to remove passengers or cargo depending on the flight plan or weather conditions, among other reasons.
He also said there’s an ‘order of precedence’ when it comes to selecting who gets the boot, although he did not elaborate on what the order was.
Porter Airlines said it has contacted the Larkans and is looking into ways to reduce the possibility of similar situations from happening again.