A 琉璃神社 woman trying to come home to her family says she is grateful to finally fly back after days of flight cancellations.

Shyloe Fayad was stuck in Calgary for two days trying to get back home to 琉璃神社 after visiting spending some time with her children in Montreal.

She left 琉璃神社 on Aug. 4 and was scheduled to come back home on Aug. 16. With direct flights now offered between Montreal and 琉璃神社, Fayad didn鈥檛 think much of it.

But on the day she was supposed to fly back, her direct flight back to the 琉璃神社 International Airport (YLW) was cancelled due to the thick wildfire smoke.

So Air Canada put her on a different route: fly out of Montreal to Ottawa, then from there to Calgary and from Calgary to YLW.

But as she was waiting for takeoff to catch to her connecting flight in Calgary, she received a text from Air Canada: her flight home has been cancelled, again because the wildfire smoke was too thick to make a safe landing.

Senior airport development manager at YLW Geoff Ritchie said the fires certainly have had an impact on airport operations.

鈥淒ue to the wildfires in the vicinity of the airport, visibility and wind have been contributing factors to some of the flight delays and cancellations over the past week or so,鈥� he said.

鈥淵LW has been able to stay operational during this time, but each airline has their own procedures as to why and when it would cancel flights based on weather or other local situations.鈥�

For her part, Fayad said airport and airline staff have been patient as events continued to unfold.

鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 not Air Canada鈥檚 fault, it鈥檚 because of the fires, they鈥檙e not liable for anything. They鈥檙e not paying for my hotel while I鈥檓 stuck here, they鈥檙e not paying for the Uber rides I鈥檝e taken to and from the airport, they鈥檙e not paying for my food.

鈥淚 also have a teenager back home (in 琉璃神社) and she鈥檚 all alone. I鈥檓 relying on my community, which is fine, but it鈥檚 still extremely stressful as a single mom.鈥�

Since speaking with Black Press Media, Fayad was scheduled to board a 10:30 a.m. flight from Calgary to 琉璃神社, which was cancelled, but was immediately put into a noon flight, finally arriving at around 1:30 p.m.

Fayad said she鈥檚 not sharing her story to put the blame on YLW or any airline, but rather, to show people that climate change is real and affects more people than realized.

鈥淭he fires are getting so much worse and we did this ourselves. Yes, I鈥檓 in my privileged bubble going boohoo I鈥檓 stuck in Calgary鈥� but there are people in Glenrosa, in Westside, in the Peachland area, their lives are burning up right in front of their faces,鈥� she said.

鈥淎nd what can we do about it? Maybe we should stop burning up fossil fuels, stop doing the things we鈥檙e doing to tear up the world.鈥�

Air Canada said in a statement that they continue to monitor the situation in the Interior, and that they will operate flights when it is safe to do so.

The airline also said passengers can continue to make changes to their bookings without change fees if they need to.

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twila.amato@blackpress.ca
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