A Thunder Bay father is questioning Porter Airlines' policies after his daughter nearly missed a chemotherapy appointment in Toronto when the pair were bumped from a pre-Christmas flight.

Xenia Ulok, 16, has a rare type of lymphoblastic lymphoma — a cancer that first presented as growing bumps on her arm more than two years ago. Treatments in Toronto have gone well, and she returns to SickKids once a month for preventative chemotherapy.

Because the trip is a regular occurrence, Greg Ulok books flights several weeks in advance, usually with Porter because of their sales. Arriving at the Thunder Bay airport on Dec. 17, Xenia says, she noticed something odd on her Porter app — it showed she had no scheduled flight that day, although she had a boarding pass. When they went to board, the pair say they were asked to step to the side with two other passengers. Her father, who has worked in the airline industry, suspected they were being bumped.

"I said, 'Guys, you can't do that, she needs to be in Toronto,'" he recalls, noting that he explained his daughter's medical situation.

The family was told to go to the airline's front desk. They left the secure area and spoke with a manager, who "felt really bad under the circumstances we were in," Xenia says.

Wanting to know why his family was selected, Ulok says he was told it was because he had "paid the least amount" for his tickets.

In an emailed statement to the Star, a Porter spokesperson said the plane was over its weight restriction, which can happen around the holidays when people travel with more luggage.

"It is policy to ask for volunteers first — with travel vouchers provided as incentive — and then it is based on fare class. Of course, there are extenuating circumstances that are taken into consideration," the statement said. "This would include people with connecting flights or travelling for medical reasons. When our team at the airport became aware of the circumstances, it was too late to board them on that flight …"

Ulok says no one was asked to volunteer, which he believes could have solved the problem. He also says the staff were made aware of his daughter's needs, and that he asked to talk to the captain and a supervisor before the last passenger was on board.

In a follow-up email, the Porter spokesperson noted that the policy of asking for volunteers was not followed in this instance — "The airport team is aware of this and will reinforce the importance of requesting volunteers in these situations."

As for the discrepancy about whether airline staff were made aware of the Toronto medical appointment, "This is the best information we have available in terms of the sequence of events. We are reaching out to the family and following up," the spokesperson wrote.

Ulok says he doesn't want to get anyone in trouble; he just wants Porter to review its policies.

"If people are going to come on (a) plane with 10 (pieces of luggage), they should say, 'I'm sorry, I don't know if we can take your extra eight luggages unless we have room on the plane to take all the passengers.' Simple solution, right?" Ulok says. "Since when is a human being worth less than luggage?"

Xenia Ulok says the airline has been "really good" to the family in two years of flights to Toronto. "It's just in this one situation, I wouldn't want anyone else going through what I went through that day, because it's not fair."

The Uloks were reimbursed, given food vouchers, and told they would receive $500 vouchers for future travel.

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Ulok says he was able to book an evening flight on WestJet — and in a nice moment, one of the other bumped passengers who overheard the family's story offered to pay for the ticket. Ulok said it wasn't necessary, but was touched.

"I would love to know her name," he says. "I would love to send her, once a year, a Christmas card."