Air Canada is charging parents just for the right to sit beside their own child in an airplane. Two parents with one child have to pay an extra $240 on top of a return flight just to be certain their toddler doesn’t have to sit beside a stranger.

This discriminatory charge that essentially blackmails parents on already expensive flight prices is a terrible for everyone -- not just for the stress it causes parents, but for the simple point: who wants to get stuck beside somebody else’s toddler?

Air Canada made $101 million in profit in just the first quarter of 2016 -- and yet it wants to exploit the stress and anxiety of parents by blackmailing them into coughing up extra cash. And who is supposed to entertain the unaccompanied child? Feed them? Take them to the bathroom? Ensure their safety?

Air Canada: stop gouging parents! Guarantee kids can sit beside their parent or guardian at no extra cost.

As any parent will tell you, flying with a toddler is an incredibly stressful experience. Not only do you need to deal with all the usual hassles of flying, you’re extra sensitive of other passengers’ comfort while your toddler is crying because of cabin pressure changes, because they’re hungry, or because they’ve been trapped in a hollow tube hundreds of metres in the air for several hours.

Airlines are extremely vulnerable to public pressure -- last year we convinced dozens of international airlines to refuse to carry illegally hunted animal carcasses on their flights after Cecil the Lion was tragically killed by an American poacher. It should be easy to get Air Canada to agree to such a simple, common-sense change.

Tell Air Canada this policy is nothing less than a price gouge. Stop exploiting parents for profit!

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