Actress and mother Holly Robinson Peete is infuriated with Air Canada after the airline left her two children, Roman and Robinson James Peete, 16 and 19 years old, respectively, stranded at the airport, according to the “21 Jump Street” star.
A Twitter post from Robinson Peete was shared late Monday night, on Oct. 4, when she called out Air Canada directly, writing, “Excuse me, but you got some explaining to do!”
The 58-year-old told the airline, “My sons have just been refused to get on the airplane and travel because they couldn’t produce our credit card that paid for the tickets. One of them is a minor and now they are stranded in the airport!!!”
In a follow-up post, the mother of four revealed she had been a long-time patron of Air Canada, “traveling back-and-forth to Canada on your airline for 35 years.” The “Hanging with Mr. Cooper” alum, who has often starred in Hallmark films that are shot in the country, stated not once had she ever “been asked to swipe the actual card that paid for the tickets.” She questioned, “Why were these two refused??”
Robinson Peete later said that “The gate agent turned his back on them and refused to allow me to talk to him over the phone to try to explain that I paid for the tickets and I had the card.” She explained that there were no available flights for her children “until first thing in the morning” and that they were ultimately “stuck at the airport.”
Fans sympathized with the star, many also slamming the company, including one Twitter user who wrote, “Absolutely unacceptable. Stranding a minor at the airport. Refusing to speak with a parent.” That person added, “Really @AirCanada this cannot possibly be the way your representatives are taught to behave.”
The airline eventually reached out to Robinson Peete, stating it was “sorry” to hear of the actress’ unfortunate experience and asked her to “please DM further details here.” The response garnered additional criticism. “What a joke for customer service,” wrote one critic. “Telling everyone to DM you shows a lack of transparency.”
A Twitter user claiming to be a travel agent in Canada replied to the actress’ post, stating, “I’ve never heard of this before” and offered to help.
According to Robinson Peete, her sons had been “flagged” because they had one-way business class tickets. In an updated post, she said her sons ultimately were able to board a flight back to the U.S. after spending a night in a hotel room reportedly not covered by the airline.
She added, “And THIS TIME did not have to show the credit card.” She also thanked MSNBC show host Tiffany Cross and everyone else who expressed concern.
