Air Canada passengers sleep in terminal on plastic sheets after flight cancellation

A Vancouver woman says Air Canada needs to apologize after passengers on a cancelled flight were told to sleep in the Tokyo airport on plastic sheets. 

The flight from Tokyo to Vancouver was one of many that were delayed or cancelled due to high winds in Japan on Sunday, and the airline says the airport made its own arrangements for sleeping and food for stranded passengers. 

Still, Sam Jones says the airline should have taken more responsibility. 

At first, Jones' flight was delayed by three hours due to weather issues, but then other delays followed.

Jones' flight was delayed five times in total and just when she thought the ordeal was over, she says passengers lining up to board their flight for the final time were told by Air Canada that their flight was cancelled for reasons not related to the weather.

She says the weary passengers were promised hotel and food arrangements by the airline, but that did not happen as expected.

Slept on plastic sheets

"Sometime after midnight we were told that there was no hotel coming and by that time, all the trains running from Narita back to Tokyo had [stopped for the day]. So there was no way for us to leave the airport." 

Jones said one of the hungry passengers suggested bringing food off the plane.

"That came an hour later. They bought us a bag full of buns and crackers." 

Jones says most of the passengers tried to get some sleep at their departure gate, but around 3 a.m. local time, they were kicked out by security.

Jones says they had to go through customs and were eventually given plastic sheets and sleeping bags to sleep on the floor. 

It was a full 24 hours after her initial flight before she and the other passengers were on their way back to Canada. 

Air Canada responds

Air Canada says it regrets that the passengers' travel plans were disrupted by the high winds affecting operations in Tokyo.

"During that time, 68 flights scheduled to arrive at Tokyo's Narita International Airport were diverted to other cities, including two of our incoming flights which were subsequently scheduled to return to Canada," Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah said in an email. 

"With more than 3,100 passengers from different airlines affected, the Narita Airport Authority provided blankets, bedding, water and emergency food for passengers overnighting at the airport as the restaurant closed when food ran out, and there were no hotels with availability in the Narita area."

Still, Jones feels Air Canada should have done more and she's not sure if she'll fly Air Canada again. 

"I was very disappointed. A complete lack of customer service. The lack of communication to all the passengers was just unacceptable," she said.

with files from Max Haberstroh and CBC Vancouver News