Despite medical clearance, Kelowna woman kicked off plane for not wearing mask - Kelowna News

Photo: Facebook Angelique Bibby and her daughter

Angelique Bibby says she has never been treated so poorly in her life.

The Kelowna mother, with her infant daughter in tow, was trying to get back to Kelowna after visiting her sister in Ottawa, when Air Canada kicked her off her connecting flight in Montreal.

The reason, says Bibby, she can't, for medical reasons, wear a face mask, which is now required on all domestic flights.

"I can't wear a mask because I have severe claustrophobia, which leads to anxiety and panic attacks to myself," Bibby told Castanet News.

Before leaving on her trip east, Bibby says she got a note from her doctor stating her inability to wear a mask.

In fact, she says, before boarding the flight from Vancouver to Ottawa a week ago, an airline manager contacted an Air Canada doctor, who cleared her.

On her way back to Kelowna Friday, Bibby says she had no issues boarding the plane in Ottawa.

It was when she got ready to board the flight in Montreal when things went wrong.

She says they wanted to see the note again and, again called a company doctor.

"I thought it would be fine...I already went through this once. They wouldn't let me get on the plane.

"They told me because I can't wear a mask that I'm a risk on the flight, and they wouldn't let me on the plane, and left me stranded in Montreal bawling my eyes out.

"They told me it wasn't their problem. When I asked them how I was going to get back to Kelowna, they told me it wasn't their problem. I got yelled at, treated like a complete criminal, and they wouldn't even look at me."

To make matters worse she says, everything happened in front of her not quite two-year-old daughter.

"They literally didn't give a crap about me.

"Because I got upset, and they wouldn't give me any answers, they threatened to call security and have me kicked out of the airport."

Castanet spoke with Bibby during a layover in Calgary, after she was able to secure a seat with WestJet.

"Everybody was aware of what was going on. They were really kind, and completely generous. They gave me food and wine and made me comfortable," she says.

Bibby says she tried to contact Air Canada, but was told she had to do everything online, and they hung up on her.