Porter Airlines flight cancelled when parent and crew can’t get standing child buckled in
- A flight from Victoria, B.C. to Toronto was cancelled after a child refused to sit down and be buckled in, causing delays for all passengers.
- The rescheduled flight departed the next day, arriving in Toronto early the following morning.
- Airline policy mandates the use of child safety seats or restraints for infants under two, recommending approved devices for all children for safety during flights.
- Similar incidents involving children refusing to sit and be buckled have recently caused flight delays, frustrating other passengers.
A flight from Victoria, B.C. to Toronto was cancelled on Thursday when a parent and the cabin crew were unable to buckle in a child who refused to sit down. It left the rest of the passengers stranded until another flight on Friday.
Child standing in seat and refusing a seatbelt cancels flight to Toronto: airline https://t.co/hEiIYK7jEO
— CP24 (@CP24) August 8, 2026
The rescheduled flight departed from YYJ on Friday at 10:49 p.m. local time and arrived in Toronto at 6:16 a.m. local time the next day, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
The family has not been publicly identified.
The use of a child safety seat or restraint device is mandatory for an infant under two years old, Porter Airlines states on its website. “Transport Canada highly recommends the use of an approved child restraint for all phases of the flight. It provides the highest degree of protection for your infant or child and its use during flight will help in case of unanticipated turbulence.”
“If you plan on having your child travel in a car seat on board the aircraft, you must purchase a seat on board for them. Porter does not supply car seats or any other child restraint systems,” Porter states.
Last month, reports the New York Post, a frustrated flyer took to social media to complain that their flight to Sweden was was an hour behind because “incompetent parents” couldn’t make their three-year-old sit in his seat while the crew was preparing for takeoff.