Toronto woman with disability says flying Air Canada made her feel like an unwanted burden

CBC News, Toronto, February 24,2023
A Toronto woman is speaking out about the experience of flying with a disability, saying her most recent flight with Air Canada left her feeling like an unwanted burden. Georgia Pike, a graduate student at York University, says she has travelled in and out of Toronto Pearson Airport many times, but her latest experience was so bad that it prompted her to come forward about a system that discriminates against people with disabilities. Air Canada says it is reviewing Pike’s case and is committed to providing accessible transportation, but Pike says her trip never should have been so difficult. Pike was travelling to Toronto from Phoenix on January 31 with her seeing eye dog, Maggie. She says she informed Air Canada staff several times that she needed an escort to follow so that she and her dog could make their way through customs and to her departure gate. After multiple waits and having to tag along with airport workers pushing other passengers in wheelchairs, she says she was taken part of the way to security. Then, she was left by an airport worker who could not take her any further because she did not have priority boarding status and told her the screening area was over there.