This couple was asked to check their carry-ons. They protested — and were booted from the flight

An Ontario couple was ousted from a cross-country WestJet flight last month after they protested the airline's demand to gate-check their carry-on bags, which contained valuables and medication.

"I was so mad," said Porur Kumanan, who was travelling from Toronto to Vancouver with his wife, Kalpana. "Are we criminals?"

Kumanan said the couple was lined up to board the plane when a WestJet employee announced the overhead bins were full. They and about 10 other passengers behind them were told they'd have to check their bags. 

Kumanan said he and his wife refused to part with their luggage, which contained jewelry and several vital medications, including for his diabetes and his wife's back pain.

"I needed the medication on the plane," said Kumanan. "They should have made an exception."

As the couple's only additional bag was Kalpana's purse, he asked if they could bring one carry-on bag onboard, packed with the items they couldn't part with. 

He said the WestJet employee turned them down and they were barred from the flight. 

"They did not even bother listening to me," said Kumanan. "Is that how airlines operate?"

The couple's case highlights a growing problem of more Canadians travelling with carry-on luggage, leading to delays and passenger frustration as they vie for often-limited overhead space. 

"It's getting to be chaos," said John Gradek, lecturer and co-ordinator of the aviation management program at McGill University.

"If you are the last one on board the airplane, last 20 or 30 people, the odds are that overhead cabin space is all taken up by your fellow passengers."

Kumanan said after the couple was barred from their flight, a WestJet employee told them they would never be allowed to fly again with the airline.

To salvage their Vancouver vacation, the pair rebooked their round-trip flights with Flair airlines. The last-minute tickets cost $1,927.

"That was not a good feeling at all," said Kumanan. On June 24, he sent a complaint letter to WestJet, which included a refund request for the costs of both the Flair and WestJet flights.