Air Canada's very direct response to comedian Matt Rife's 'I hate your guts' check-in complaint
U.S. comedian Matt Rife took to social media to complain about a problem with Air Canada, and received a very direct response from the airline that amounted to: “Not our fault.”
On Wednesday, Rife posted to X: “F— you. I hate your guts. So, your website crashes and won’t allow me to check in. So upon arrival to the airport I’m told ‘ah yeah, you weren’t checked in in time, we can’t give you a boarding pass.’ Yeah…because of YOUR website.”
He continued: “Absolutely nothing stopping me from making it on the plane, pleeenty of time to make it to the gate, not even an issue. You just won’t let the person who bought a ticket get their ticket because of your system error. Go f— yourself. Never flying with yall again and i hope nobody does.”
Just over three hours later the airline replied: “Hey Matt, we’re sorry about your experience. The issue you’ve encountered was not caused by our website. Please DM us and we would be happy to have a conversation about the issue.”
Hey Matt, we’re sorry about your experience. The issue you’ve encountered was not caused by our website. Please DM us and we would be happy to have a conversation about the issue. https://t.co/ZiqnCXdRlG /Max
— Air Canada (@AirCanada) October 29, 2025
Several users on X noted how strange it was that the airline would disavow any responsibility before looking into the problem, with one from Ottawa posting under the name Chris West joking: “Gaslighting you in the reply is on brand.” And BitLux, a private jet charter company operating out of Florida, responded with : “We have a solution for this.”
National Post has reached out to Air Canada and Rife for more details.
This is hardly Rife’s first beef with airline service, however. The 30-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, posted to X in 2023: “How long is too long to roast flight attendants in my new show?” That show was the Netflix comedy special Natural Selection, and it did include a lengthy segment on flight attendants who insist on enforcing the rules.
It was not well received by critics. A review in Cracked magazine noted: “The most off-putting segment of the special is its last bit, a long diatribe about a flight attendant who insisted Rife stow his bag under the seat. It’s a long story that starts out defensive and then gets… more defensive.”
Rolling Stone also commented on his “banal” humour about flight attendants before concluding: “Rife’s is a garden-variety strain of American contempt: cheap, lazy and sure to find broad agreement.”
Vulture also found his flight attendant rant unfunny, saying “it notably lacks the kind of humorous reframing or conscious construction that would make any of it into material,” and adding: “If he’d given more thought to it, the realization that he comes off as an enormous a–hole might’ve been an exciting opportunity to twist the story into new directions.”
A TikTok video posted last February on a Matt Rife fan page finds the comedian doing crowd work at a comedy club and being told by an audience member that she works for American Airlines. His response: “You work for American Airlines? Oh, f— you! Where are my bags?”
On Thursday, Air Canada announced that it had been voted the North American winner for Employee Experience Strategy in the sixth annual ARCET Global Customer Centricity World Series Awards in Dubai.
“The awards celebrate companies from around the world for superior customer and employee experiences, and Air Canada was recognized for its innovative ‘Care & Class’ initiative,” the airline said in a press release.
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