WestJet planes are back in the air, but several passengers remain grounded and in some cases have had to find their own way home.
Julia Henry and her husband were visiting family in Jamaica last week. The Winnipeg couple was set to fly home with WestJet on Monday, but their plans changed as flight attendants hit the picket line over the weekend.
Though a tentative deal was reached Monday, WestJet says more than 900 flights were cancelled as a result.
Henry’s was among them.
“We’re all being stuck in limbo basically,” Henry told CTV News, adding it’s been difficult getting a hold of the airline.
“Honestly (I’m) very frustrated. The communication is really awful from WestJet,” she said.
The initial email from the airline said she would be rebooked within two hours, but a day later Henry said she hadn’t heard anything. After a full day of trying to contact WestJet, Henry said she was told the earliest options to fly home were all a week from now.
She decided to fly home earlier with a different airline, but it cost nearly $3,000.
“Which is completely insane. There’s not really much we could do about it in terms to get home,” she said, adding the extended time away from work will also end up costing them.
Henry said she will be trying to get a refund when she finally gets home.
“Trying to get our money back might be another issue as well. So that’s just another thing that we have to look forward to,” she said.
Air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs said if WestJet passengers had their flights cancelled and have not been rebooked within a few hours, the airline should be the one covering the cost to get them home – either on a WestJet flight or via another airline.
“You are at liberty to buy yourself a ticket and then charge that ticket to WestJet, make them pay for it. If they don’t pay it, then a judge will order them to pay it,” Lukacs told CTV News Channel Monday.
WestJet did not respond to specific questions when asked if it will be covering the expenses incurred by these passengers as a result of their cancelled flights. However, the airline did provide a statement to CTV News.
“WestJet is resuming operations and entering the recovery phase following a labour disruption. Flights have begun to operate; however, the impacts of the disruption continue as the airline works to restore its network,” the statement reads in part.
It encourages guests to keep checking the status of their flights before heading to the airport.
