Air Canada offered this passenger a 15 euro food voucher after his travel from Toronto to Brussels took 40 hours - Toronto Star

He and his brother took a tour of western European airports in their quest to make it to Belgium for their cousin’s wedding.

A screenshot from Kevin Limbombe’s TikTok account (@kevinandassociates) where he detailed his travel woes during a layover at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France on Sept 14.

It was supposed to be a simple travel day.

Kevin Limbombe and his brother were scheduled to fly Air Canada from Toronto to Montreal at 4 p.m. on Sunday to catch a connecting flight to Brussels on Monday morning at 7:10 a.m. central European summer time (CEST).

The 11-hour flight plan turned into a 40-hour gauntlet in which he and his brother took a tour of western European airports in their quest to make it to Belgium for their cousin’s wedding. For the 29 extra hours of travel, Limbombe was offered a 15 euro food voucher.

“I felt a little shocked,” Limbombe told the Star in a video call from Brussels. “I was baffled at the options that they were able to provide in that moment.”

When he and his brother missed their flight from Montreal to Brussels due to a delay in Toronto, Air Canada booked them on an Air France flight to Paris instead. After arriving, they had a tight window to catch their next connection: a one-hour RwandAir flight from Paris to Brussels.

The flight, meant to leave Charles de Gaulle airport at 10:30 a.m. CEST on Sept. 14, didn’t exist and does not show up in any flight logs.

It was at this point that Limbombe found himself in a “circular conversation” with Air Canada’s customer service desk that resulted in him and his brother receiving a food voucher for their inconvenience.

“At the end of the day, I’m an adult, and when I’m faced with a challenge, I’m gonna figure it out,” he said.

Air Canada did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

But it wasn’t himself he was worried about.

Limbombe’s brother suffers from arthritis, which had been flaring up over the past few weeks.

“I just wanted my brother to be in Brussels because my dad’s a family physician,” he said of his parent who was already in Belgium. “At least he can get proper care from someone who knows his medical history.”

Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations dictate that airlines must compensate passengers when a flight travelling to, from, or within Canada is either cancelled or delayed three or more hours.

For a large airline like Air Canada, it has to pay $400 if a passenger arrives three to six hours late, $700 if a passenger arrives six to nine hours late and $1,000 if a passenger arrives more than nine hours late, such as in Limbombe’s case.

Airlines can deny a claim when the reason for a disruption is beyond their control or necessary for safety.

Limbombe said he received mixed messaging on the cause of his travel delay. In Toronto, the flight attendant mentioned thunder — a weather-related delay potentially outside of the airline’s control. But a customer service agent in Paris told him that his initial flight was delayed due to a staff shortage — a labour issue within Air Canada’s control.

If an airline denies a claim, passengers can take their case to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), an independent regulator and tribunal that deals with matters involving air travel.

But air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs said that small claims court is a better route than taking a claim to the CTA, an agency he said is overwhelmed with complaints and cozy with the airlines.

“In small claims court, airlines can’t hide,” said Lukacs, “they have to put forward evidence.”

Limbombe, who graduated from law school three years ago but now works in finance, said he’s already “gathering evidence” for his tribunal claim and what he describes as “pettiness” on the part of Canada’s largest airline.

“You’d think an airline with as many resources as they do and as much revenue as they make would be able to take care of their passengers and make them whole when something is clearly their mess up, right?” Limbombe said.

He finally arrived at Brussels on Tuesday at 2 a.m. local time after flying through Munich Airport in Germany, while his luggage remains at large.

Tired and in need of a shower and a clean change of clothes, Limbombe is remaining positive ahead of his cousin’s wedding.

“Hopefully my suit arrives,” he said while waiting for his suitcase to be delivered to his Airbnb. “The only thing that may get me out of here is going to get a nice fluffy Belgian waffle.”

Sheila Reid is a staff reporter with the Toronto Star. She can be reached at shreid@thestar.ca.