Harry Potter actor Matthew Lewis slams Air Canada for bumping him from first class

Harry Potter actor Matthew Lewis called Air Canada the "worst airline in North America" after he was allegedly kicked out of first class on a flight last week.

Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films, tweeted about a less than positive experience he had during a flight from the US to Canada.

"Confirmed. Air Canada is the worst airline in North America. And that's saying something," he posted on Twitter on August 27.

Confirmed. @AirCanada is the worst airline in North America. And that’s saying something.

— 🇺🇦Matthew Lewis🇺🇦 (@Mattdavelewis) August 26, 2022

After receiving dozens of replies, Lewis said he was originally booked to fly first class from Orlando to Toronto with Canada's biggest airline.

When he arrived at the first class gate, the 33-year-old said an airline rep tore up his ticket, put him in economy class and said the flight was full.

"Kicking me out of first class to back of plane is what it is but doing it at the gate. Literally tearing my ticket up. No explanation other than "full flight" he wrote.

"Said if I wanted to sort it I should go to customer service. I asked where that was. 'Toronto.' I'm in Orlando."

Lewis said being bumped from a flight was all part of air travel but added that the airline should have been kinder about the process.

"I've been bumped before. Comes with the territory. But at the gate, less than two minutes to boarding and without explanation or apology? Never. They even said if I wanna complain or get a refund I have to reach out to them!"

Lewis said the popular tactic of overbooking flights needed to stop.

"We as a society should not be okay with normalising the profiteering of overbooking flights and kicking people off flights," he said in a statement to CTV News Toronto.

While Lewis had not yet spoken to an Air Canada representative about the issue, he said their customer service was "sh**e".

Lewis was not alone in his opinion. Many social media users replied to his Tweet with complaints of their own.

"Ugh so sorry this happened to you! They are the worst. They refused to take my luggage in London, had to pay $500 cad to get it shipped to Toronto. Still won't reply to my emails. Good luck, hope you make it!" one person wrote.

Ugh so sorry this happened to you! They are the worst. They refused to take my luggage in London, had to pay $500 cad to get it shipped to Toronto. Still won’t reply to my emails. Good luck, hope you make it! 🤞🏻

— brittbodsッ (@Brittbods) August 26, 2022

Others thought the problem wasn't with the airline but the actor's attitude.

"You might have acted a nice guy role on Harry Potter movies but in real life you come across as a spoiled brat," replied one person.

"Not a huge fan of Air Canada at all but most airlines are experiencing post-pandemic issues since everyone is trying to travel again. Patience is not your strong suit."

Air Canada eventually jumped into the thread and asked Lewis to message them privately to solve the issue.

"Hi Matthew, we regret hearing this. Please send us a DM with further details of the issue, we'll see if we can help from here," the airline wrote.