B.C. Man Forced to Miss Flight Because Airport Staff Refused Pat Down
Robert Hart, a retired social worker from B.C., was flying to a family wedding in Ontario when he set off the metal detector at Northwest Regional Airport. This wasn’t an unusual experience for Hart since his hip replacement surgery but when he requested a pat down, he was refused and told he'd have to miss his flight.
The all-female screening staff declined to give him a pat down, citing CATSA policy that only same-gendered staff could complete the physical searches. He was told his only option was to miss his flight and wait four hours until a male staff member was available to complete the pat down.
Hart tried everything, he explained in a letter to the Terrace Standard Newspaper. He tried to convince them that he consented to the search. No. He suggested other airport staff or an RCMP officer. No. He explained he had a connecting flight and couldn’t miss it. No.
“CATSA’s job is not to impede our travel. It’s to ensure our safe travel. But we’ve developed a security system that presumes we’re all guilty unless we can clear ourselves.” Hart said about the incident.
Hart was delayed the four hours and then had to wait for a later connecting flight. All told, he believes he was delayed over nine hours. A good travel insurance plan could have helped with his missed flights and other expenses while everything was being worked out.
CATSA apologized to Hart when they became aware of the incident. CATSA spokesperson, Mathieu Larocque, stated that the incident was a “misunderstanding of the policy.” He explained that CATSA allowed for exceptions to the policy if the passenger gave consent to a search by a member of the opposite gender.
CATSA said they would be following up on Hart’s experience with mandatory training on the policy. They would ensure staff across Canada was also made aware of the exception.
Hart was able to make the wedding but hoped that, in the future, others would not have the same problems he did with airport staff.
Image Courtesy of Adobe Stock