WestJet Airlines customers are growing anxious about a lack of communication from the company following a strike that left some passengers stranded and out thousands of dollars in travel expenses, with no clarity on how much they will be compensated.
From emergency hotel stays to unplanned airport meals, customers say the large chunks of money they’ve spent go way beyond the cost of their cancelled flights, and there’s no confirmation that they’ll be reimbursed for anything other than their tickets.
Since June 27, more than 1,700 flights have been cancelled by the airline, upending the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers travelling over the Canada Day long weekend.
The disruption began after the company’s aircraft maintenance engineers unexpectedly walked off the job Friday evening. The two parties reached a tentative agreement on Sunday that includes improvements to the mechanics’ wages and benefits.
In an e-mailed statement, WestJet spokesperson Madison Kruger said customers are entitled to request a refund to their original form of payment in the event of a flight cancellation if alternative travel arrangements were not provided to them within 48 hours, according to the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR).
“Our teams across WestJet are working diligently to support all impacted guests as quickly as possible,” she wrote.
However, for WestJet customer Mel Offner, getting through to someone at the airline to request a refund in the days following her cancelled flight has proven extremely difficult, she said.
Ms. Offner, her partner and their four-year-old daughter were trying to fly from Santa Ana, Calif., to their home on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast on June 30. Less than 24 hours before they were supposed to take off, they saw online that their flight had been cancelled.
After three nights of hotels, two extra days of a car rental, three days’ worth of meals, a ferry rebooking, two extra days of airport parking and a phone bill run up by international calls, Ms. Offner said she has $1,500 in unplanned expenses and is unsure if she’ll be reimbursed.
Despite multiple efforts to call and tagging the airline in social media posts, she said all she has received in return are generic statements and the promise to pay $150 for their first night in a hotel – which has yet to be fulfilled.
“The cost of living already is so high these days. I don’t have $2,000 or $1,500 just lying around ready to pay for it, and after missing work as well, it’s just been a really frustrating experience,” she said.
According to Ms. Kruger, WestJet is not required to provide compensation for hotels and meals for situations outside of the airline carrier’s control, per the passenger protection rules.
“The courts have held that the declaration of a strike marks the onset of a labour disruption. Therefore, flights disrupted due to a declaration of a strike and the strike itself are considered outside of a carrier’s control under the APPR,” she wrote.
WestJet is obligated to respond to passenger claims received within a 30-day period, Ms. Kruger said, adding passengers should submit claims for eligible expenses on the airline’s website.
Until recently, WestJet customer Jennifer Litowski said she had no hope of reimbursement for the US$1,400 she spent on airline tickets for her niece and her boyfriend or the $800 spent on hotels and meals for the two teens.
She said since the second flight in the two teens’ journey from Regina to visit her in Boston was cancelled, she had only received two e-mails from the airline.
“One was a customer service survey on Sunday, which is ironic, and I did not fill out. It’s now expired. And then the second one I received Wednesday, which was prepare for your upcoming flight for the flight from Boston to Regina. Their return trip for the trip that never happened and that I can’t cancel,” she said.
Finally, Ms. Litowski said she reached a WestJet agent over the phone after three hours on hold Thursday afternoon and has submitted her expenses for a refund.
Kathleen Carrigan and her 82-year-old father are also waiting for their refund to come through from Avion Rewards – the loyalty program they used to book their WestJet flight.
She said her father recently rekindled a connection with his high school sweetheart over the phone and they were planning to fly from Vancouver Island to Halifax on July 1 so the two could reconnect.
However, since their original WestJet flight was cancelled and the loyalty program couldn’t rebook them on another airline without added expenses, she said they were forced to cancel their trip after a year of saving up points.
Now, they’re waiting anxiously to see the refunds promised by Avion come through before they can afford to plan another trip. But with her dad’s colon cancer coming back and his high-school sweetheart on oxygen, Ms. Carrigan said she’s unsure if there will be another chance to make the trip.
“I hope that by September, we have the refund and then hopefully I can get him on a plane,” she said.
