At the YYC Calgary International Airport, travelers found that the usual accessible parking spots (referred to handicap or disability parking here in the U.S.) near the doors had been painted over, no longer saved for the people who need them. Instead, they were reserved for Lexus drivers as part of a marketing campaign.
Understandably, the airport received a complaint after a family with access needs entered the short-parking area to find the Lexus logos painted where the accessible parking had been, as CBC News reports. The airport had sold the spaces to Lexus as a way to generate revenue as part of a marketing campaign. Even worse, YYC hadn't replaced the accessible spaces yet, though Calgary Airport Authority spokesperson Jody Moseley told CBC News the airport was in the process of moving them when it started to draw attention.
Calgary airport criticized after converting 5 disabled stalls to Lexus-only parking https://t.co/mAKXRO3jBn pic.twitter.com/mSLAEXDnzh
— CBC News (@CBCNews) August 21, 2017
The story ends well, however: The Calgary Airport Authority is converting the Lexus spaces back to accessible parking, and said in a statement of apology that the new accessible stalls meant to replace the original ones will also remain in place, so it's a net gain for disabled travelers.
YYC also apologized to Lexus Canada, which it says "did not play a role in selecting, and was not aware of, the locations for the campaign."
Lexus issued its own apology, saying it would "more carefully scrutinize the details of these types of marketing campaigns" in the future.
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