Teens two minutes late, barred from Air Canada flight

Michael Cumben says his two teenaged daughters were not allowed to board an Air Canada flight from St. John's to Halifax on Sunday because they were two minutes late for check-in.

Cumben said he and wife arrived with their daughters, aged 13 and 15, 43 minutes ahead of the girls' scheduled flight, and were told by Air Canada officials that they were too late to have their luggage checked and to get boarding passes printed.

Cumben said those two minutes ticked by in the time it took him to find a parking spot.

"If I had dropped my wife and children off at the door, they would have been okay," said Cumben.

Policy revised in April

Air Canada had revised its check-in policy on Apr. 10 to require all passengers to be checking in 45 minutes prior to takeoff for domestic flights.

Cumben said he wasn't aware of the change in policy.

Cumben also said because he and his wife had to get security passes to accompany their children to the gate, they didn't check in ahead of time.

"We were told by Air Canada, the last we flew with them, not to bother checking in online; It was a waste of time because we had to go to the counter anyway."

Cumben said he and several other passengers had to reschedule flights because of the policy.

He said it cost him $349 to rebook his daughters on a later flight on Sunday.

Cumben said he would like Air Canada to reimburse him for the cost of rebooking his daughters' flights. He added he wouldn't mind if the company threw in an extra flight or two as well.