AFN chief says Air Canada offered a 15% discount after headdress was mishandled

After the Assembly of First Nations’ national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.

“It must have been a generic response,” Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in an interview, calling the entire experience “humiliating” and “unbelievable.”

Woodhouse Nepinak said in a social media post Thursday that her headdress and its case were taken away and put in a garbage bag.

She clarified Friday the case was removed from the flight, but she was able to hold her headdress throughout the trip after pleading with staff.

Air Canada said in a statement Friday morning that it reached out directly to Woodhouse Nepinak to apologize and “better understand” her experience. It added it is also following up on the matter internally and reviewing its policies.

During the flight from Fredericton to Montreal on Wednesday, the national chief said an Air Canada staff member approached her and said: “You can’t have that in here.”

Woodhouse Nepinak said she told them she wouldn’t part with her headdress.

Still, the crew took it and its case and put garbage bags around them, she said, before she managed to convince them that her headdress should be taken back out.

Photos Woodhouse Nepinak posted online show the case covered in a clear plastic bag, with staff members hauling it on the tarmac to be loaded under the plane.

Air Canada said it is looking to learn from the “regrettable incident” and ensure “special items such as this” can consistently remain in the cabin with travellers.

“Air Canada understands the importance of accommodating customers with items and symbols of sacred cultural significance,” the statement says.

“In the past the chiefs have been able to travel while transporting their headdress in their cases in the cabin, but this time the case was difficult to carry in the cabin due to stowage space limitations on the Dash-8 aircraft.”

Woodhouse Nepinak called her headdress one of the highest honours First Nations peoples can receive.

She said she spoke with the president and CEO of the airline on Friday morning and told him they need to do better, including by appointing a First Nations person to their board.

She also wants them to have cross-cultural training for staff.