Porter Airlines flight cancelled after child refuses seatbelt, passenger defends family

A passenger has defended a young child whose refusal to wear a seatbelt prompted the cancellation of a Porter Airlines flight from Victoria to Toronto last week.

The aircraft returned to the terminal after the child would not remain buckled in before takeoff. The child and a parent were removed from the flight, but delays meant the plane could not depart before Victoria's runway closed at 12:30 AM.

Passenger Aryeh Kozuch said travellers initially believed an adult passenger was refusing to follow crew instructions.

“I’m not gonna lie, I never even considered the idea that it was gonna be an unruly toddler. I thought it was an unruly adult,” Kozuch said.

Kozuch said criticism directed at the child and their parents online did not fairly reflect what happened.

“This was a child that was in a tube with 150 people ... They’re obviously terrified, and their response was to try and hide under the seat in front of them,” he said.

“That’s so different than a kid running around and screaming.”

Porter Airlines said passengers were moved to another flight the following day and apologised to affected travellers.

Kozuch said he travelled to Toronto the next day but had not received information about compensation. “An email would have been nice,” he said.