Air Canada Causes Outrage on Twitter for Last Name Policy

By Paul Thomson :: 7:11 PM

Earlier this afternoon, a Tweet sent by Air Canada to one of its customers caused a frenzy on Twitter, due to the airline’s policy dealing with reissuing travel vouchers.

It all started when Calgary resident and author Chris Turner Tweeted to to Air Canada to ask about the policy on reissuing a travel voucher to a family member – namely, his wife. The airline responded and said that doing so would only be possible if his wife had taken his name – which she had not.

Obviously, this did not sit well with Turner, who was now stuck purchasing a full-price ticket for a fare he could have used a voucher for, had his wife not kept her name after the walk down the aisle.

Here’s how it played out:

@theturner Hi Chris, vouchers can only be transferred to another family member before travel if they have the same family name. /cc

— Air Canada (@AirCanada) December 30, 2013

@AirCanada Yup, got it. Maybe let your bosses know that those of us who are not married to June Cleaver find this deeply insulting. — Chris Turner (@theturner) December 30, 2013

So I’ll have to charge this flight, carry cost, reimburse later. Can I expense the interest to @aircanada‘s Dept of 1950s Preservation? — Chris Turner (@theturner) December 30, 2013

 

@AirCanada And yet data systems in every other facet of our lives overcome this hurdle. e.g. I’ll be charging flight to a JOINT credit card. — Chris Turner (@theturner) December 30, 2013

 

@AirCanada Noted. You can see how this institutionalizes a lower quality of service to women who kept their maiden names, though, yes? — Chris Turner (@theturner) December 30, 2013

And it didn’t take long before scores of people jumped on top of Air Canada for their outdated policies.

@AirCanada Welcome to the 1950s, Air Canada travelers!

— Kay Winter (@odhran25) December 30, 2013

Hey Air Canada, women are not property. pic.twitter.com/4pEOYjby3a

— robert_ (@rowast) December 30, 2013

.@VJsapps @AirCanada my wife didn’t take my last name. you’re telling me she’s not family Air Canada?

— curtisandrews (@curtisandrews) December 30, 2013

So now @AirCanada is saying if wife doesnt take husband last name, they are not family according to Air Canada rules. Hmnn

— Vijay sapps (@VJsapps) December 30, 2013

The airline has not yet addressed this issue via its Twitter account, other than replying directly to Turner’s questions.