Air Canada has temporarily retracted its decision to impose a new seat selection fee on travelers who booked at the lowest fares.

Under the old policy, a seat would be randomly assigned to customers who do not pay for fares that provide free seat selection prior to check-in, at check-in, with the option to change that seat to another available seat for free.

However, some Air Canada customers received notifications earlier this month stating that the airline would soon charge passengers standard or base fares to change their automatically assigned seats during check-in.

A Facebook account related to travel agent Kerry Berlinkit, based in Ontario, shared a picture of a notification received on April 18.

The notification read: "We are introducing a new process for seat assignment for standard or base fares."

"When customers enter the check-in process, our system will automatically assign a seat for free to those who have not purchased a seat in advance... If they wish to change their automatically assigned seat, they can do so easily for a fee."

The notification, which mentioned that the change would take effect on April 24, sparked a wave of complaints from angry consumers on Facebook, X, and Reddit.

So Air Canada can now split your party at its discretion to force you to spend money to ensure your party is seated together. (Previously, it was a safe gamble for 24 hours where you could find seats together)

One Facebook user commented on Berlinkit's post: "This is disgusting. It was bad enough that you had to fight for a seat 24 hours before the flight, just another money grab."

One Reddit user wrote on April 24: "It's frustrating when traditional airlines act like budget airlines. They have eliminated free checked luggage, and now they have also removed the option to choose seats for free at check-in. What's next?"

I don’t understand why everyone is mad at @AirCanada for imposing another unwanted fee. They have been heading towards the bottom end of the low-cost airline market since their last bailout. Their service, food, on-time rating, cleanliness, and overall quality are terrible.

After some intense backlash, Air Canada issued a statement to aviation industry news site Pax News explaining the policy change.

"What changed, and is consistent with fares carrying our brand, is that after seats are assigned at check-in without a fee, customers who now wish to change to a different seat than the one we assigned them will have to pay the same fee 'that they would have had to pay prior to check-in'," the airline wrote to Pax News, which reported that the airline would continue to assign seats to ensure that families sit together in the same booking without fees, according to Canada's air passenger protection regulations.

"This is the practice followed by other airlines, including some Canadian airlines."

However, by April 26, Air Canada temporarily suspended the new fees. The carrier did not confirm whether consumer reaction influenced the decision and declined to answer questions from CTVNews.ca regarding why the fees were being imposed and how long the temporary suspension would last.

A spokesperson for the company, who was not named, wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Monday: "We have temporarily halted implementation for operational reasons to ensure a smooth experience for our customers and employees."

"We will communicate the next steps in due course."

Air Canada would not be the first Canadian airline to impose fees for seat selection after check-in. However, airlines that charge seat selection fees, such as Flair and Porter, tend to be low-cost carriers offering more affordable base fares than the Canadian national carrier.

The only exception is WestJet, the second largest airline in Canada after Air Canada, which also charges for seat selection.