'I had a really like sickening feeling': A woman said she complained about how Air Canada treated her, then the airline penalized her mother, who works for the company

rhogg@insider.com (Ryan Hogg) - Yesterday 

An Air Canada Boeing 787. Taylor Rains/Insider© Provided by Business Insider

Air Canada revoked an employee's flying privileges after her daughter complained about a flight.

The daughter was upset her mother seemed to get punished over an issue between her and Air Canada.

The airline said the employee broke its code by allowing a family member to file a grievance.

A woman who complained about her treatment trying to board an Air Canada flight said the airline revoked her mother's employee-flying privileges afterward.

The woman, who asked not to be named citing concerns for her mother's job, told Insider she filed a complaint with the airline after what she deemed to be poor customer service by the gate staff. She had bought a ticket using flying privileges her mother gave her.

The woman emailed senior officials at the airline and copied in media outlets, which appeared to prompt the airline to retaliate by revoking her flying privileges for two years.

An email sent to the employee suggested her daughter had misrepresented herself as a revenue-generating customer.

The airline then disciplined her 62-year-old mother, who is an administrator, and issued her the same punishment.

An email seen by Insider shows a senior official telling the employee that she would not be allowed to fly standby for two years.

"I had a really like sickening feeling when my mother told me what they did to her," the woman said. "It's one thing for me to be reprimanded, but it's totally different for my actions impacting my mom."

Standby tickets allow airline employees to fly anywhere for a fraction of the normal cost and are one attraction of working for a long-established carrier such as Air Canada.

The woman told Insider that standby privileges were the main reason her mother, who is close to retirement, took the job. She is now worried she will lose her job if the situation escalates.

THE UNION HAS A 'DUTY' TO REPRESENT

The woman said her mother went to her union about the issue, but was told there was nothing it could do, and union representatives suggested she apologize to try to reduce her penalty.

In a statement to Insider, Air Canada said: "We deal with our employees directly on internal matters. However, we can confirm employee travel is a special privilege and a unique and generous perk of working for an airline that comes with responsibilities which the overwhelming majority of employees and families understand and value.

"We take feedback about our services seriously. In fact, we undertook an investigation into the complaint lodged, and subsequently found facts which did not align with what was presented." The airline did not elaborate further.