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Social media posts vilify these parents as “cheap” and “disorganized seat-swappers” who prey on the kindness of solo passengers.

The truth, however, is much more complex.

Any airline that flies into or out of Canada is required to seat children under 14 near a parent or guardian free of charge.

Despite this rule, which took effect more than five years ago, many parents still pay extraÌýto pre-select seats for peace of mind.

Yet passengers still report being separated from their kids by Canadian airlines as a result of overbooking or last-minute plane changes.

And, in more than a handful of cases shared with the Star, airline staff refused to intervene to fix this problem,Ìýleaving parents in the stressful position of pleading with strangers to swap seats.

After the Star published the McLachlan family’s story about 20-month-old Molly’s being put on standby for an Air Canada flight, then seated alone, the airline described their experience as an isolated incident caused by “human error.” The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) is investigating.

But since then, numerousÌýparents and grandparents in Canada — and as far away as Australia — have come forward with similar experiences.

º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍømom Allyson Newburg has travelledÌýthe world with her son since he was three months old and always pre-selected seats.Ìý

“On at least six occasions, Air Canada did the exact same thing and separated us at the last minute,” Newburg said. “Sometimes, they would seat him by himself 20 rows away. On at least two occasions, I had to negotiate seat switches on board. So this is not an isolated incident.”

Newburg, who has bloggedÌýabout her travel adventures in 42 countries to encourage parents to venture abroad with their kids, said no other airline has switched her son’s seat at the last hour.

“It is unconscionable that Air Canada has not yet figured out how to tether a child’s booking to their parent to ensure they cannot be separated,” she said, adding she never complained to the airline “because life is too short to bang your head against a brick wall.”

Earlier this year, Air Canada put in place “new technology to assist our people in charge of reassigning seats in the event of a disruption, which shouldÌýhelp ensure consistency,” airline spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said, adding that it has been company policy to seat children with a parent or guardian “since at least 2014.”

Last year, Australian Vivian Munoz paid more than $7,000 for Air Canada to fly her and her three children — ages two, nine and 11 — from Sydney to º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøfor a summer wedding. Nearly $1,400 of that amount went toward seat selections for their round-trip flights.Ìý

When they checked in at Pearson to head home, Munoz saidÌýan agent advised them that their seat selections had disappeared from the system. They weren’t even on the plane.

Munoz said she was told the plane was “overbooked” and that her family was placed on standby. They continued to the departure gate where another agent made an announcement, asking for volunteers to catch a later flight.

With the plane almost fully boarded, the agent advised that there would be space for Munoz and her kids but that she’d have to negotiate with other passengers if she wanted to sit next to her children.

“It’s humiliating,” she said on the phone from her home in Sydney. “I am now one of those people you see on the internet who shuffle around passengers so the family can sit together. We’ve done nothing wrong but people are assuming we didn’t pay for seat selection. People have no idea that all this drama was as a result of Air Canada’s mismanagement.”

On the flight, while waiting in line for the bathroom, Munoz says a female passengerÌýasked why she didn’t pay to select the family’s seats.Ìý

“I had to explain that we did, and that this was all because of Air Canada. She couldn’t understand why we didn’t have our seats if we paid for them. I said I couldn’t understand either.”

MunozÌýcomplained to Air Canada’s customer relations department which offered her a 20 per cent discount to fly again, a “goodwill gesture” that the Aussie scoffed at.Ìý

“I don’t want to ever fly with them again.”

In an email, Air Canada’s Fitzpatrick said theÌýcompany’s efforts to accommodate families are “well recognized internationally,” and that last year the airline carried “almost 2.5 million children under 12, over 400,000 of whom were under three years old.”

He also noted Skytrax, aÌýUK-based airline ratings firm, namedÌýAir Canada the most “Family Friendly Airline in the World” in 2023 and the “Most Family Friendly Airline in North America” at the Farnborough International AirshowÌýin England in 2024.

Tammy Barrett told the Star she waited on hold with Air Canada for 90 minutes in mid-February after checking in for her flight from º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøto Fort Myers, Fla., and discovering her 10-year-old son was seated in another row next to a stranger.

Barrett, a retired lawyer, knew the law and didn’t pay to pre-select her child’s seat. It had never been an issue before, she said.

When a customer service rep answered Barrett’s call, she was told there was nothing that could be done because the flight was full.Ìý

“I expressed my serious concerns, making it clear that my son could not sit alone, not merely as a matter of preference but as a matter of legal obligation and basic child safety,” Barrett wrote in an email she sent to Air Canada and forwarded to me.

“The representative dismissed my concerns outright, stating that it was ‘not the end of the world’ because we would still be on the same aircraft — a response so callous and indifferent that it is difficult to comprehend how someone in a customer service position would find it acceptable.”

Peter Rappazzo told the Star the same thing happened to his three-year-old grandson during their Toronto-to-Fort Myers flights.Ìý

“This happened three times from when we purchased our tickets and seats until we departed,” he said. “The third time I totally lost it with the agent as I can’t understand howÌýAirÌýCanadaÌýcan allow this to happen and say it’s OK. I complained (three times by telephone) and still have not heard a peep from them.”

Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) require airline carriers to seat children under the age of 14 near a parent or guardian at no additional charge.

Kids younger than five should be directly next to a parent while those aged five to 11 should be in the same row, separated by no more than one seat. CTA’s investigation may result in a “notice of violation” and “administrative monetary penalties” of up to $25,000 for each violation.

Janice MacKay of Mississauga told the Star she was separated from her two children who were under the age of five on a flight home from Nova Scotia.Ìý

When the flight crew wouldn’t help fix the problem, MacKay marched back up the gate.

“I told them we didn’t have to sit all together,”Ìýshe wrote in an email, “but I was not allowing my two children to sit next to complete strangers.”Ìý

Eventually, she said, they seated MacKay and her children together “and then announced on the PA system that they were sorry for the delay as some people would not take their seats.”

Humiliated and angry, MacKay wrote to the airline to express her concerns.

That was 20 years ago.

“I am still awaitingÌýa response,” she said. “I have never flown with them again.”

Fitzpatrick initially said Air Canada had no record of MacKay’s or Rappazzo’s complaints, but has asked customer relations to review Munoz’s file and that they “will be reaching out to Ms. Barrett.”

He later clarified that Rappazzo’s complaints would have been handled by a call centre that is disconnected from the company’s customer relations unit, which communicates with passengers primarily via email.

To save Rappazzo the hassle of submitting an electronic form, Fitzpatrick said he’s asked his team to contact him.

“We are a large company flying 130,000 people or more each day around the world,” Fitzpatrick said in an email. “Given this, and because we are a company of 40,000 humans, errors do occur despite our very best efforts to avoid them. However, we always want to address these issues and try to make it right for the customer.”