Toronto, ON – An Air Canada passenger’s viral social media post, accusing the airline of serving a meal that was six months past its expiration date, has been debunked as a simple, yet embarrassing, case of cross-border cultural misunderstanding. The traveler, reading the date using the common U.S. month-first convention, failed to realize that the Canadian flag carrier, like most of the world, utilizes the day-month-year format.
The controversy erupted after the passenger filmed her in-flight meal packaging and zoomed in on the label, which clearly showed dates like “05/11/2025” and “06/11/2025.” Confidently assuming the date meant May 11th, she loudly declared the food expired in May, making it a half-year old meal.
In reality, for Air Canada and its international catering partners, the dates corresponded to November 5th and November 6th, meaning the food was, in fact, fresh and prepared for the current week of travel.
The swift online backlash against Air Canada, fueled by millions of views, illustrates the pitfalls of “provincial Americans who assume the rest of the world uses U.S. conventions,” according to aviation analysts. The confusion persisted even after the passenger questioned a flight attendant, who reportedly explained that in-flight meals are sometimes frozen for months—a standard industry practice that the passenger misinterpreted as further proof of her own, mistaken, expiration claim.
